Second's Warning
by EmmyLovett
Summary: Set after the episode aired on 1 May in the UK so will contain spoilers for all non-UK viewers . Very different ending to the actual TB show... Sequal will be up once chapter 14 has gone up. :D Hope you like :D
1. Something to Fight for

**_As I said, this will contain spoilers for non-UK readers, but the outcome is very different from The Bill. Basically... hope you like it... even if you don't please review and then I'll keep updating. The story isn't totally finished yet - normally I wait until I have finished writing them before I UD but i felt if I left it any longer then the plot line and stuff would be too old..._**

**_Thanks :D Em x_**

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_**Seconds Warning:-**_

_**Something to Fight for.**_

"It's been… days." Sally sighed, looking down at Emma's unconscious form. If it wasn't for the many tubes sticking in and out of her body, she would have looked so peaceful. Her hair flopped lazily over on eye and the rest was sprawled out over her pillow, the bronzy brown locks cascading over the dusky green cushion like a gold rush. Her chest moved up and down, as if it was keeping time so silent music only Emma could hear, but Sally knew that if it wasn't for the large machine next to her, Emma's chest wouldn't be moving at all.

"Honestly Doc, what are her chances?" Callum asked, looking up from Emma towards the young male doctor. Callum knew that if he could look so young and have a degree in medicine, he must have been very newly qualified, and under any other circumstances, he'd have been worried, but Dr Jarvis had kept Emma alive, albeit only just, for close to a week; and didn't show any signs of giving up just yet.

Dr Jarvis put on a long, mournful expression as he looked over Emma's stats on the clipboard before him.

"Honestly?" Jarvis shrugged. "I wouldn't have put my money on any longer than thirty-six hours. It really is anyone's guess now."

"So she's doing well?" Sally asked sceptically.

"Well… all considering, yeah – not at all bad." Jarvis smiled. "She obviously feels she has something to fight for." A nurse came into the room, glancing at Emma. Her left cheek was blistered and a reddish purple colour. When Emma had first been brought into St Hugh's, the doctors had said something about Partial Thickness burns, and then they looked at her arms and legs, all wincing as they peeled back the black canvas trousers. That had been described as Full Thickness burns and had had to be tended to immediately. She'd been rushed into theatre and a dermatologist surgeon had performed a skin graft. He had gone into details, but Sally and Callum had found them so gory and in depth, they'd had to get him to stop. Now when the doctor and nurse performed her hourly OB's, they no longer winced at her arms or legs. They were swollen and red, but the skin was no longer burnt away, to the point where it was slightly blackened around the edges of the wound.

"Her collarbone is still looking swollen. I think we should up the dose of anti-inflammatory in her drip." The nurse said wisely, running her finger over Emma's collarbone, gently pressing down on several occasions, and shaking her head. Dr Jarvis nodded, and scribbled something down on his clipboard. "The stitches above her eye look to be holding well." Again Jarvis took his pen to the paper, deep furrows appearing in his brow line.

"Is everything okay?" Sally asked worried.

"Yeah… I think so." The nurse smiled. Sally caught a glimpse of her name badge, realising she hadn't ever come across her before. Jennifer Humphrey, it didn't mean anything to Sally, but she was sure that over time it would. She seemed nice, and more than competent at her job. Jarvis waved Jennifer over to the window, holding the clipboard to his mouth, talking in hushed confidential tones. Callum looked at Sally, and then at Emma.

"If there's something your worried about…" Callum started, before pausing, rephrasing what he was about to say in his mind. "No, look; we were first on the scene, we work with her, and we're all good friends. If there's something you're worried about, we have to know." His eyes pierced the young doctor, his steely glare unnerving him somewhat.

"It's nothing, really." Jennifer waved her hand dismissively.

"It must be something if it's important enough for Dr Jarvis to have to tell you." Sally reasoned.

"Okay, the skin graft on her left leg is healing well, but the graft on her right leg is looking a little bit… dodgy…" Dr Jarvis said carefully, watching Sally and Callum's reactions. "Most of it is fine, and I'm sure it will all be okay, but there is cause for concern. I think it's just a small infection, which we should be able to clear up with a course of antibiotics over a couple of days. We'll monitor it closely and let you know of any developments."

Sally let her head loll against Callum's shoulder, tears welling up in her eyes as she took hold of Emma's hand. There were a few grazes along her fingers, but compared to the rest of her body, it was unscathed. Callum wrapped his arm around Sally's back, letting his hand rest on the side of her shoulder. He felt several specks of water soak through his t-shirt. It had been hard on everyone, but this was the first time since the day of the explosions Sally had cracked in his presence. He thought it would have come sooner. Gina had had them working twelve hour shifts, and the unusual thing was, no one seemed to mind. Everyone was motivated to catching the bomber; they would have worked a full day without complaining.

"We ought to get home Sal. We're working again tomorrow." Callum said reasonably, gently prising Emma's hand from Sally's, her fingers were cool and slender. He hadn't noticed that when he'd pulled Emma from Andy's grip almost two weeks ago.

"What if she wakes up?" Sally asked, her big blue eyes looking up at Callum, the tears that dropped from them shining on her cheeks.

"Then we'll get the hospital to call us?" Callum said, looking at Jennifer who smiled and nodded.

"Sure. If you scribble down your numbers…" She pulled out a scrap of paper from her pocket, before handing Sally a pen.

Sally Armstrong (Emma Keane)

_07492556720_

Sally passed the paper to Callum who took the pen, his hand shaking slightly.

Callum Stone

_07349612654_

"Thanks." Callum smiled, looking at Jennifer, and then Dr Jarvis. "Take care of her." He said softly, just before he started walking towards the door, Sally with her arm linked through his, letting him support her body weight.

"I don't know how much longer I'll be able to cope with this." Sally said tearfully as she fell into the passenger seat of Callum's car.

"I know it's hard Sal… but you've got to. For Emma's sake. When she wakes up, it's gonna be twice as hard as it is now."

"What if she doesn't… yano… wake up?" Sally asked, wiping her eyes.

"Dr Jarvis is hopeful about her recovering."

"What if the infection doesn't get better and it spreads or… or…" Callum took hold of Sally's hand, catching it mind flight as she tried to talk with her hands.

"What if Sal?" Callum said. "What if… I dunno; what if the infection gets better with the antibiotics? What if she makes full recovery? Look on the bright side." Sally nodded, biting her lower lip.

"I'm working… we're working twelve hours, sometimes more, everyday… and then we go home when Gina tells us to – I dunno about you, but I don't get any sleep. I lie in bed, tossing and turning and all I can see is the explosion… people being thrown back into the square, people screaming and scouting, people bleeding, people dying. And then I see that 'doctor', that animal… and then it all stops." Sally paused and looked around, pulling her hair back from her face. "But not for long. It's the warehouse… I can hear the alarm, I can see smoke. And then all I can see is Emma… yano…"

"It's hard on us all Sally. If you stay with me tonight, I'll set up the spare bedroom. We'll make sure you get a decent nights kip." Sally smiled slightly, murmuring thank you as she tried to control her breathing and stop the flow of tears falling over her cheeks and onto her lap.


	2. Good Feeling

**_Seconds Warning:-_**

**_Good Feeling_**

Callum passed Sally a mug, before sitting down on the couch himself. Sally tucked her legs under her body, turning herself slightly so she could face Callum.

"You like Em don't you?" Sally asked. Callum looked away from Sally instantly. He didn't say anything for a few seconds. "There's nothing wrong with liking her. You wouldn't be there first…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Callum asked defensively.

"Just… just that I think her and Will had a fling about a year n' a half ago." Sally said. She watched Callum's face drop. He obviously hadn't known. The only reason Sally knew was because she wormed it out of Will. They were both strangely closed about the whole thing.

"She's a good officer. I worry about her 'cause she's naïve." Callum explained. "And she has a tendency not to follow orders…"

"She's inquisitive. She doesn't like being under the thumb, and who can blame her?" Sally defended her friend. "Look… I've never seen you look quite so worried as when you saw Em back at the offices. And then when you were listening to the doctors talking. And then again when her heart stopped. It's kinda cute y'ano." Sally smiled softly. Callum glared at her. "And for the record I don't think anyone else knows. You can admit it to me." Callum sighed heavily, rolling his eyes. Sally wasn't going to give up.

"She thinks I'm bent." Callum said. "I may as well give up now, right?"

"No! If you were bent, you wouldn't have saved her life." Sally said, her tone. "Yeah ok, you're ways are a little… unorthodox at times; but your not bent Callum. You just want what's best for us… and the people of London."

"She said that she'd been trying to get my approval…" Sally nodded, silently ushering Callum on. "_Then_ she told me she thought I was bent… and… and that I wasn't the man she thought I was."

"She wouldn't have said that if she didn't feel anything."

"Then she walked off. If she hadn't walked off, then she wouldn't have been anywhere near those offices, and if she wasn't near those offices, then she wouldn't of had to go the evacuation alone." Callum stopped for breath, his voice rising in hysteria. "And if she hadn't gone it alone, then maybe it would be me lying half dead in hospital right now, not her."

"Don't you dare talk like that!" Sally said dangerously. "You saved her life. If it had been you that was caught in the blast… Emma could'a been caught in it too – and then where would we have been? It's not your fault. Em shouldn't have run off… especially after everything that had happened that day." Callum nodded, knowing he'd have to appear to agree with Sally, otherwise he wouldn't hear the end of it. "Maybe it was a momentary lapse of judgement on both parts." Callum was happier to agree with that.

"Yeah, but it doesn't stop me feeling guilty. I even told her to be careful, y'ano when you were waitin' for her? That's what I was sayin' to her. She asked me if that was my way of showin' that I care" Callum closed his eyes, his mind reliving those few brief words they had exchanged on the morning of the bombings. "And she goes n' gets herself blown up." Callum shook his head disbelievingly.

"Was it your way of telling her you cared?" Sally asked, trying to keep his mind off the explosion itself. Callum shrugged.

"Yeah; I guess it was…" He smiled slightly. "She saw right through me there though, huh?" Sally smiled and nodded.

"But I reckon she likes you too. Just an inkling, but the smile that she was wearing before… the first one… I've never seen anything like it. She didn't get the end of the sentence, but she's winding you up on purpose. She was tellin' me about the undercover and stuff… she knows it makes you tick."

"But the thing is, the more she disobeys what I tell her to do, the more I think, know, that I like her. Like when she walked off. She was undermining me in a million different ways in front of a suspect, and yeah, I was little annoyed… but it wasn't proper boiling anger. I care too much about her to be able to get angry. I was more angry with me self. When she called me all them names in front of the suspect – I'm sure 'e was luvin' it – with anyone else, I would'a hit the roof – I know that. But not Emma."

"When she wakes up Callum, you'll be there." Sally assured.

"What if she doesn't remember me? Us… anyone?"

"Now who's the one with the 'What ifs'?" Sally asked. It was the only answer she could muster. She hadn't thought about what could happen when Emma woke up. She knew the obvious – she wouldn't be working for a while, she may have a few scars and bruises, but at the end of it all, Sally thought Emma would get back to normal. "It's almost midnight… we're on in six hours. Let's try and get some sleep and then we can go to work feeling like there is hope in this world. Tomorrow Callum, we're gonna find the bomber, and we're gonna go to the hospital, and Emma's gonna wake up. It'll all fall into place and she'll realised you're the one that she's wanted…" Sally started to giggle, maybe it was a little far fetched, but it had amused them both. "Look… I agree with you – earlier you said to look on the bright side. It makes things seem a whole lot better." Callum stood up just as Sally did; he pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tight.

"Thanks for this." He said. "It's good to talk sometimes. We've been burying ourselves under way to much work this week." Sally nodded.

"Yeah, well I'm always here. And if you ever need Emma pointed in your direction." Sally winked, before walking from the room, leaving her sentence unfinished. She made her way up the stairs to the room Callum had quickly sorted out earlier in the evening.

She pulled the duvet up around her chin, still in her jeans and t-shirt having not had the heart to go home to pick anything up. Tonight, she didn't feel cold, empty or numb, as she had done for the previous few nights. The sound of the bombs blowing wasn't ringing in her ears and the images that had shocked London on various front pages weren't swirling unstoppably in her mind. As pathetic as Sally knew it sounded, she warily closed her eyes, wondering if her little world she and Callum had struck up that evening was about to be shattered. But it wasn't. Her mind stayed perfectly empty, and right now, that's just the way she wanted it to be. Tomorrow was a new day, and although she had only been trying to raise spirits downstairs, she did have a good feeling about it.

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**_Thank you to Jilly (for reviewing and being a fabbtastical Beta!) Hollie, SassyJ, Taz and Abi for all reviewing with really nice comments!_**

**_Luv ya - Emz x Ooo and sorry for not UDing sooner ;P)_**


	3. Beyond the Dream

**Seconds Warning:-**

**Beyond the Dream**

"How's Emma?" Gina pulled Sally to the side after the morning briefing; concern was etched into her eyes as she spoke of her young officer. Sally nodded, smiling slightly.

"She's hangin' in there." Sally replied softly.

"Good. You and Sergeant Stone haven't got anything to do today have you?"

"Does writing up witness statements count?" Sally asked despondently, thoroughly bored with staring at a computer screen all day, typing pages and pages worth of never ending statements that CID kept piling on the lower ranks. Gina thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"I think you two are the only ones who have been in the station all week, so no. You deserve a break. If CID want anything typing, then I think they can do it themselves." Sally grinned, raising an eyebrow – since when did they do anything for themselves? If they got a result, it usually was because they had outside help be it CO19, or in this case, the Counter Terrorism Unit. "Anyway, I was going to ask if you'd mind popping some bits up to Emma for me. Will and Ben stayed late last night finalising the bookings for Emma's holiday, and some flowers were delivered to the station from the office that was targeted. I thought they might brighten up her room."

"Sure." Sally smiled, she had been trying to find a reason to go and see Emma at work all week. "Where've the boys booked her holiday?"

"Milan… it's still a good few weeks away yet, but that gives her a little bit'a time to recover. And from what I hear, they've been able to get two tickets. Who she'll take with her, I have no idea, but from what I hear Barton Street dug deep too."

"They don't even know her!" Sally protested.

"But our PC Keane is the hero of the moment. They way everyone sees it, she singlehandedly saved fifty-odd people from… God knows what." Gina shrugged. "I'm not complaining; that girl deserves it." Sally smiled and nodded in agreement. Some might have called Emma's actions stupid, but for once, it was nice to have the medias backing."

"Callum thinks she was reckless… I dunno what he'll think of the five star treatment." Sally said, almost worriedly. She was sure he'd want to come with her to the hospital, but she wasn't sure he'd back the idea of even Barton Street chipping into her fund.

"You aren't going to want to hear this, but he's right. We're very lucky she's still with us. Forty percent third degree burns… I'd hate to think what the odds were, but I doubt they're in her favour." Gina said sighing deeply. "If she's made it this far… fingers crossed 'ey. Look, you and Callum get over there, if you wanna stay for a while… you aren't much use to me here…"

"Err… thanks." Sally smiled she wasn't expecting that. She thought it would be a quick in and out kind of visit. "I err… I better go find Sergeant Stone." Gina nodded; glad she didn't have to talk Sally through each step to get her to the hospital.

"Serge!" Sally shouted down the corridor, diving out of the meetings room just in time to see Callum disappear into the Sergeants Office, no doubt to bury himself under yet more paperwork that seemed to get directed his way. "Gold's asked if we'd mind taking a couple'a tickets up to Emma… and she said something about flowers too." Callum dropped the papers he was holding onto the already precariously balanced pile.

"Right…" He sighed deeply.

"I can get someone else to come if you want?" Sally said understandingly.

"No… no." Callum replied, a little too quickly. "It's just hard… seeing her…" He ducked out of Sally's view, pretending to look for something in his drawer. Every time he spoke to her, he seemed to divulge a little more. Soon enough, she was going to have the full picture on just how he felt about Emma.

"Look so helpless. I know Callum, I find it hard too…" Sally closed the drawer, making her way to the door. "I'll meet you out front, I have to get the tickets from Will or Ben… and the flowers from out front." Callum nodded, following Sally from the office, glad he had some kind of excuse to get him away from the masses of paperwork the bombings had brought.

"Excuse me, have you got a vase we can put these in?" Sally asked, peering over the thick wad of pink, purple, red, orange and cream flowers towards the nurse. In any other arrangement, Sally was sure the colours would have looked terrible together, but not this time, it looked artful and sophisticated. She was certain Emma would like them.

"Sure…" The young woman, that once again, Sally didn't recognise, pulled a large glass vase from the cupboard and filled it with water before placing it on the stand next to Emma's bed. Sally dropped the envelope containing the tickets next to the flowers.

"How's she doing?" Callum asked.

"We've seen massive improvements over night." The nurse smiled at the beam that appeared on Callum's face. It made a change from the devastated friends and families she had to deal with so often. "She's starting to react to the medication we're giving her. Her collarbone isn't looking as swollen and her leg is already looking much better – the infection's been caught so early on, it was barely there. Dr Jarvis is very happy with her."

"Will she wake up soon?" Sally asked, her hopes being a raised a little too high. The smile the nurse was carrying faltered.

"Like I said, she's doing well, responding to the medication and so on. There's only so much we can predict." The girl successfully ducked the question, before leaving to room.

"She looks better." Callum said, brushing a few strands of Emma's hair from her cheek.

"Yeah…" Sally hung back from the bed, watching Callum carefully. He didn't take his eyes from Emma, and even though her skin was slightly red and bruised, it didn't seem to bother him like it would so many other people. He was careful to only touch her where her skin was 'normal'; as if he was worried she'd be able to feel pain. "I'm gonna go get coffee… you want anything?" Callum's hand slid from Emma's face, down to her hand, as he turned to face Sally.

"Yeah… coffee'd be great." He said gratefully. He heard the door close behind Sally, and it suddenly dawned on him that he was totally alone with Emma. There was an eerie silence that unnerved Callum. When he'd imagined being alone with Emma, he hadn't planned it being in an Intensive Care Unit with her fighting for her life. He'd thought she'd be as bubbly and confident and seductive as ever, purposefully messing with his head. Even though Emma's tendencies wound him up just a little, it went without saying that's what he'd prefer to the beeping of the heart monitor and the mechanical movement of the drain that fed into her arm.

Suddenly, Emma's hand slipped from Callum's grip. He shot from his daydream, looking down over her. She spluttered several times, her eyes flickering open, her hands immediately rising, rubbing them vigorously. Callum remembered the tubes sticking down her throat, before pressing the red alarm above her bed, trying not to panic. An alarm drowned out the heart monitor.

"Just… stay calm Emma." Callum directed, jumping out of the way as doctors and nurses flew into the room.

"Okay Emma, I'm your doctor, Sean Jarvis, I need you to hold still whilst I remove the tube. It'll probably hurt a little bit, but I'll have it out before you know." Emma nodded, a little dazed by her surroundings. Where was she? Who was Dr Jarvis? And most of all why was Callum holding her hand?

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**_Ta once again goes to everyone who reviewed last chapter - just a quick note about the name of the chapter... it's called Beyond the Dream because Emma has woken up, so is therefrore out of the dream... it's a bit weird I know, but I couldn't think of anything else to fit, and I didn't name it when I wrote it which is what I normally do so it was a little bit rushed so I could get it on here as quick as possible. _**

**_So yeah... uh if you got any of what I just said :D _**

**_Please R'n'R - _**

**_Emz x_**


	4. Undying Love

**_Seconds Warning:-_**

**_Undying Love_**

"My throat hurts." Emma said hoarsely, her hand shooting to her neck as she spoke. She swallowed hard, wincing several times. She tried to sit up, before she realised she couldn't move her right arm. She looked down over her body, seeing that her arm was tightly slung around her neck. The nurse pulled Emma into a sitting position, propping her up with pillows.

"Just take it easy." She warned, before leaving Emma and Callum.

"Where am I? What happened?" Emma asked, visibly confused.

"Your at St Hugh's Em… you, erm, well you were caught in a bomb blast about a week ago. Do you remember anything?" Emma squinted, as if trying to look through her mind, searching desperately for something that she remembered, even vaguely.

"There was a doctor… hurting a woman." Emma said slowly.

"Well done." Callum smiled supportively. "Anything else?" Emma bit her lip, shaking her head, not quite looking Callum in the eye. Callum chose to ignore this. She'd probably remembered their argument…

"What's wrong with me? I can't feel my legs… or my arm…" Emma said worriedly, trying to flex her toes, but failing.

"Hey!" Callum's hand shot to Emma's squeezing it gently, in way of reassurance. "Don't panic…"

"I can feel that though… Cal, why… what, how?"

"You heard what the nurse said, slow down, take some deep breathes…"

"Don't patronise me – just tell me what's happened. Am I dying? Is it fixable?" Although Emma's words hit Callum hard, he could help but smirk – she was still the same person even after just waking up from a coma all of half an hour ago.

"Your not dying Em." Callum smiled, before turning slightly more serious. "You've broken your collarbone; that's why your arms all done up." Emma nodded, watching Callum's forefinger run along the canvas material that held her arm to her chest. "And you suffered pretty bad burns to your arms and legs… and face…" Tears welled up in Emma's eyes as she ran the hand that was free along her cheek.

"What do I look like?" Emma asked quietly, flinching as the salty tears rolled over her bruised cheek.

"You look…" He sighed, there were a million words he could use to describe Emma right now, but for some reason, he held back. "Fine." He said finally, swallowing hard, trying to cover his burning cheeks. Her hair was limp, her face was red and bruised, she had stitching above her eye, and she was crying, but to him, she still looked beautiful.

"The flowers are nice." Emma said, changing the subject, reaching out to the vase, rubbing one of the pink petals between her fingers. "Who are they from?"

"The people you saved." Callum smiled at the shock on Emma's face.

"Saved?"

"Yeah, you're the heroine of the times. You evacuated a whole office of people when you knew that there was possibly a bomb in there." Emma's eyes widened in surprise. "No one else was hurt, all because of you. You went it alone… they're all so, so grateful." Recognition flashed across Emma's face. It was all beginning to piece together in her mind.

"I saw them…" Emma breathed, her body tensing.

"Who?"

"The terrorists. Callum I saw them… they saw me. They know I was there…" A nurse came bursting through the door, a very stern, unimpressed look pasted across her face, her lips tightly pressed together.

"I thought she was told to stay calm." Callum looked back at Emma who was now covered in a cool sweat, her eyes were wide open, the blue pools reflecting fear. "You have to take these." The nurse held her hand out, showing two pink capsules. "For the pain." Emma gingerly took the medicine, her hands shaking as she popped the pills into her mouth one by one, pulling a face as she let them slide down her throat, the passage burning as the pills cut their paths. "Please keep it calm now."

"I'm scared Callum." Emma said confidentially, leaning towards Callum as much as she could, before she pulled back in pain. "What if they come and get me?" She asked.

"Could you ID them?" He asked sceptically, not sure if it would hold up in court as evidence, but willing to give it a try. Emma nodded enthusiastically.

"I won't ever be able to forget them." She said dramatically.

"Sally's here too… when she gets back I'll go back to the station and pick up a laptop."

"I want you to stay with me." Emma said quickly.

"But… ok…"

"Thanks…" Emma's face softened, her eyes not looking quite so anxious. Callum was amazed at the emotion that was flowing from Emma's body when she was looking so tired and run down. He was getting nearly all of her moods just through her eyes.

"Everyone'll be so pleased to know you're awake. We've all been so worried… working twelve hour shifts, keeping on top of the paperwork." Emma smiled slightly at the trouble she had caused.

"Oops." She grinned. "There's an envelope there… under the flowers…" Emma said suddenly, after tearing her eyes from the flowers back to Callum. Callum lifted the vase and handed Emma the envelope, watching her tear it open, expecting it to be a Get Well Soon card. "Milan?" She said, shocked. "Oh-my-God!"

"You've got Will n' Ben to thank for that. Apparently it was between Paris, Milan and Barcelona." Emma's mouth was agape with gratitude. A second ticket fell to her lap, and she looked at Callum convinced she was seeing things.

"How much did everyone put in? Two tickets to Milan for four days?! That must'a cost a bomb!"

"Like I said Emma, you're the hero of the moment. Barton Street even gave a lump sum…" Emma opened her mouth. "I know you don't know them, but you've touched a nerve all over London."

"I was just doing my job." She said, frowning. Callum snorted, so many people had put money on her saying that. "What?"

"Your job description definitely isn't to put yourself in danger when a building is thought to have a bomb in it. Most officers would have walked away - " Callum stopped suddenly, as if mid way through a sentence. Emma looked at Callum, for the first time sustaining very meaningful eye contact between them.

"Are you angry with me?" Emma asked, a scared tone running through her voice. Emma looked at the bed covers and placed her hand over Callum's.

"Why would I be angry?" He asked, his voice barely more than a whisper as he looked away from Emma, her steely glare a little more than he could take.

"'Cause I undermined you, and I ran away…"

"You've learnt your lesson though?" Callum asked. Emma looked at her arm, and then pulled the covers back from her legs, both of her legs covered in white pads held down by a creamy white tape.

"I think so."

"No Em I'm not." Callum was still adamant that he couldn't get angry with Emma; he just wondered whether it would be acceptable to say as much. "You know how to wind me up the wrong way… but I've never been angry with you."

"Really?" Emma bit her lip, lifting her hand to Callum's cheek, drawing him into her, as he knew full well she could only lean so far. Emma opened her lips slightly, this time not intending to back down as she had done when they'd been in that position before. Callum's hands snaked their way around Emma's neck as he sat onto the bed, careful not to hurt Emma.

"How's she doing?" Sally breezed into the room, before looking up from the floor, seeing Callum and Emma entwined on the bed. Sally blushed a furious shade of red, before grabbing the door handle and stepping out of the room under both Callum and Emma's harsh glare. Emma sighed and looked away from Callum pulling her hands from his face and falling gently back against the mattress, turning so she was facing away from Callum pulling the covers tight around her body.

"I'm sorry…" Callum breathed, standing up, leaning over Emma's body, pressing his lips to her cheek, letting his fingers trail through her hair before he made his way from the room, unaware that Emma had started shaking as she tried to keep the tears in. The door clicked shut behind Callum, and Emma could heart the squeals of delight from Sally, but she was more interested in the large splatters of salty water that was branching out over her pillow. This time it wasn't because she was worried about her looks, or because she was in pain.

"I can't believe you!" Sally laughed, shaking her head. "I mean… I know I left you alone. I was expecting you to declare your undying love to her whilst she was unconscious, not almost kiss her after she'd been awake for… how long exactly? And that's another thing, why didn't you ring me? I thought we agreed. When she was first brought in… we did. I remember." Sally's voice quickly changed from high-pitched girly hysteria to hurt.

"Just… just leave it Sally." Callum said shortly, racing off down the corridor, leaving Sally thoroughly confused, unable to keep up with him even if she'd ran. "Leave it…"


	5. Apology

**_Seconds Warning:_**

**_Apology_**

"Em…" Sally made her presence known as she slipped into the ICU room. She sat on her bed, resting her hand on Emma's arm. "Sorry…"

"It wasn't s'posed to happen." Emma mumbled into the pillow. Sally didn't say anything, all words failing her. She knew Emma was too ill to be anything but genuine, so decided it best to take her words at face value. "Sal… can I tell you something?" Emma asked, turning under the covers, wincing as the dressing clad burns scraped against the rough sheets. Sally smiled encouragingly and nodded.

"Course you can babe, you know that."

"I'm scared…" Emma admitted softly. "I don't get what's happened. I know there was a bomb, and I remember a doctor who was… touching women who'd been hurt. Callum told me there had been a bomb and that I'd saved people… like, a whole office. Then I remembered them… two faces…" Emma closed her eyes, swallowing hard. "They were acting suspicious, I can remember that… there was a bag and they were walking towards it. Towards me. I think they were the bombers…" Sally had tears in her eyes, watching Emma struggle to piece together everything she knew.

"You were paired with me during the morning, there were two bombs then… we were first on the scene and then Callum joined us with Will and Ben. You hurt your hand… got something caught in it, so Callum told you to go to hospital. You came back, but I promised the girl the man was molesting that I'd catch him, so we – as in me, you and Callum, went looking for him. You found him and then…" Sally paused; did Emma need to know about her and Callum's exchange of words? "You went off from where Callum had got the man, and I think you must have heard the alarm… but you went into the offices… Jack said he called you, told you to be careful because there had been reports of a suspicious package. You got everyone out… no one else was hurt 'coz of you Em."

"I really did that?" Emma asked, shocked at her calm head in such a situation.

"You really did." Sally confirmed.

"Okay… I think I've got that." Emma looked around nervously, before her gaze fell to her hands. She could almost still feel Callum's fingers wrapped around hers, and it had started to send shivers down her spine as she relived those first few seconds she could feel and hear again. "Callum… a couple of weeks ago, we almost kissed. I told you that, yeah?" Sally nodded. "Well… I think something might have happened before I came in here. When I woke up… he was holding my hand and then – you know what happened after 'coz you walked in." Emma could barely look at Sally, shame residing deep in her eyes. "When he talked to me… he was talkin' with so much understanding and patience. Why? What happened? He doesn't talk to anyone else like that… it was weird. It was like he actually cared. Were we seeing each other?"

"On the mornings of the bombings, Callum held you back. He told you to be careful. You asked if that was his way of showing he cared."

"It was?" Emma asked, shocked. Sally sighed and nodded.

"I think so…" She said gently, not giving too much away.

"That fits. He rescued me from Andy, and then he laid into me, tellin' me I'd been irresponsible and stupid for leaving the pub with him. We almost kissed, but I pulled away." Emma looked sheepish for a second, a blush creeping up her neck as she realised how schoolgirl the next bit appeared. "I'd been tryin' t' catch him out. I didn't realise he liked me." Emma's shoulders dropped, and she began to look guilty. "I thought he was playing games with me too."

"Callum said you'd crossed words by the river when you'd arrested the guy who was molesting the women." Emma bit her lip and shrugged.

"We might have done?" She said helplessly, the fact that Sally knew more about her actions than she did herself scaring her more than a little bit.

"You did darlin'." Sally confirmed. "You told him you'd been trying to gain his approval…"

"What for though?" Emma frowned.

"And then you told him he was bent…" Sally paused, watching the cogs in Emma's mind start to whirr away.

"He was threatening the 'doctor'." Emma said, smiling, finally remembered something in larger detail. The colours stood out from the motion picture in her mind. Everything was in focus, nothing was black and white or blurred. "Pushing him over the edge of the railing! I told him that all the while, I'd been trying to gain his approval so I could be privy to this little world you and he have but that… that he wasn't the man I thought he was. That I thought he was dodgy. Bent or whatever…"

"He was gutted when you said that y'ano." Sally smiled weakly.

"He said that I wasn't the girl he thought I was either. He didn't sound that 'gutted' to me." Emma retaliated disbelievingly. Sally raised her eyebrows and shook her head.

"So… was Callum all you were worried about?" She asked sneakily.

"Uh… no…" Sally shot Emma her most piercing stare. "Yes. Ok, maybe he was. But I really did mean what I said, he ain't the guy I thought he was."

"Which is why you almost let him kiss you." Sally smirked. "And don't tell me it was the drugs or anything. Look Emma, I know you've probably got more important things on your mind right now, if I'd just been blown up…"

"Cheers Sal!" Emma laughed at Sally's blunt words.

"Okay, if I'd just been in a coma for a week." Emma shook her head, indicating that was no better. "Urgh! Why do I bother?! Anyway, if I'd just been blown up, _and_ spent the last week in a coma, I wouldn't be that worried about getting a boyfriend either."

"I do like him… but your right. I've got to think about myself for a while. You know… I've got these two tickets to Milan. I know it's right down your street and all, so… well… if you can get the time off… ones yours if you want it. I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you…" Sally grinned, her eyes growing bigger, as Emma spoke, until her mouth dropped open.

"I'd love that. But I don't wanna tread on any toes here, so I think you really ought to know, Callum gave you mouth to mouth when we found you. He didn't give up, and he pleaded with the paramedics not to give up when they were shocking you. If it wasn't for him… I wouldn't have known what to do if I'd found you the way he found you. There was smoke everywhere, there was ash and dust everywhere… there was blood everywhere. I would'a panicked like God knows what. He didn't. He was amazing." Tears shone in Emma's eyes and she bit down on her lips, almost guiltily.

"Why didn't he tell me?" She asked quietly, her voice o more than a bewildered whisper. "I had no idea… I… just – how the hell do you thank someone for saving your life?" Emma asked, frowning. Sally shook her head slowly. "I feel like I'll be forever in debt to him."

"If he heard you say that…" Sally warned. She imagined Callum's reaction, and it brought a smirk to her face.

"I've got to see him." Emma said suddenly. "Just… oh my God. It makes sense now."

"You still think he's corrupt?" Sally asked daringly. Emma's eyes snapped to hers. She closed her eyes, her head falling back against the pillow as she stared at the ceiling tiles.

"I just have no idea anymore." Emma groaned. "I can't believe I said that. I don't even know 'im, and yet I'm quite happy to pass judgment on him… and he's still happy to save my life. I don't deserve anyone like him Sally." Emma continued earnestly. Sally rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You know that ain't true." She reprimanded. "Look, I'll get Callum back up here – or I'll try. And then maybe you can thank him properly." Sally looked meaningfully towards the card that was propping up the two tickets to Milan. Emma knew exactly what Sally was thinking, and she herself had half thought it too, but would it seem like they were together, like they were more than just friends? Or would it be assumed that Emma was inviting him just to be polite? Neither was true, and slowly, Emma began to come around to the idea. What did it matter what anyone else thought? Maybe four days with Callum would do her good. Possibly get him out of her system whilst getting to know him better. And vice versa too – she didn't want a relationship at all, let alone with someone from work – her superior at that. What could go wrong? Surely, it was a win, win situation for both Callum and her? Right…

* * *

**_ I don't know if I said anything at the end of the last chapter, but I'm gonna keep this short._**

**_Thanks to all my faithful readers and reviewers, you all mean the world to me_**

**_I'll try and update on Friday, if not then I'm really sorry but it'll be another three weeks because I'm off camping tomorrow and on holiday on Saturday._**

**_To make up for the above, I'll try and write lots more of this story whilst I'm away!!_**

**_Cheers :D_**

**_Em x_**


	6. Play by the Rules

**_Seconds Warning:-_**

**_Play by the Rules_**

"Hey." Emma said uneasily, trailing her notes out longer with nerves. Her eyes traced out Callum's features, and despite her best attempts, his eyes didn't connect with hers and he could barely even bring himself to angle his body towards hers.

"I'm sorry about… what happened." He said, his voice breaking away from the usual cold and hard toning it adopted and his phrasing making Emma wonder if he saw 'what happened' to be a sleazy, shameful act. Emma reached her hand out, ignoring the searing pain that tore down her arm. She closed her hand around Callum's and pulled him down onto the bed.

"Don't apologize." Emma smiled. "Sal told me what happened." She added vaguely. For the first time since Callum had come back to Emma, he looked at her, but unlike earlier, the soft almost loving element that sparkled in his eyes had been substituted with panic and worry.

"What about?"

"Us…" Emma said bluntly. "The argument before the bomb and then you saving my life. If anyone's saying sorry here, it should totally be me." Emma paused, looking up through her fringe at Callum. "I don't think you're corrupt at all, and I'm really sorry I said I thought you were. I jumped to conclusions a little fast… what you did though… it scared me. That's all." Her voice was full of sincerity and her touch was burning the palm of Callum's hand.

"You were angry – I understand." Callum shrugged off Emma's apology, pretending her words hadn't been etched onto his heart. "I guess… well, yeah… I guess I would have reacted the same if it had been the other way around."

"Don't excuse it Cal… I'm a copper, I should be used to turning my emotions off. I should be unshockable by now."

"It doesn't say in the job description you have to be a feelingless bitch though."

"Might be a little more accurate if it though? At least you'd know what you were in for." Emma giggled, raising her eyebrow as Callum pulled her into his side.

"And you mask the cynic within so well usually." Callum smirked. Emma pretended to look hurt for a second, watching Callum squirm as he rushed to right his wrong. "I mean… well I think the opinionated you is nice… y'ano, it's the real you, and it's kinda obvious that you really believe in what you think."

"Thanks… for everything…" Emma whispered, cutting Callum off, silently showing that she didn't mind what he called her, and she didn't mind if he slipped up on his words and blundered his way through a sentence. Deep down, she thought she liked it. Emma's heart raced as she felt Callum's lips on the crown of her head.

"No worries."

"You know I will though… so… well, I wanna give you this." Emma reached away from Callum and pulled one of the tickets from the envelope and stuffed it into his hands.

"I can't Em…" He protested weakly, shaking his head.

"You just have done. It'd mean the world to me…" Callum's face softened slightly. "Thanks!" She beamed, pressing her lips to Callum's cheek, throwing her arms around him. His cheeks flushed as his skin buzzed and tingled at Emma's touch.

"You saved my life. You never have to say thank you to me ever again." Emma said, falling back down against the bed and pulling the thin covers around her body. Her eyes were growing tired and her limbs were growing heavy. "I'm knackered…" Emma giggled, stifling a yawn.

"You get some sleep, yeah. I'll probably still be here when you wake up." Emma smiled gratefully and nodded, pulling one of her pillows into her arms and cuddling it tightly. Her thumb found her way to her mouth and she fluttered her eyes closed, tucking her legs right around herself. "Oh yeah… and Em…" Emma opened one eye, looking cheekily up and Callum. "We've got a lead… now get some sleep!" Emma's mouth fell open, before Callum closed it with his little finger.

"One thing I ask you to do though…" Callum glanced down at Emma, he'd do anything for her, and that showed in just how attentive he appeared.

"Sure doll."

"Play by the rules…" She pleaded desperately. "I couldn't forgive myself if you got a beating by the DPS 'coz of this. It's not worth it."

"Em… he hurt you…" Callum said.

"And you'll hurt me if you hurt him." Callum smiled, resting his hand on Emma's cheek.

"If he does one thing out of line. Just resisting arrest, I swear to God…" Emma grabbed Callum's hand mid flight, giggling. Some girls may have of found his tone threatening, but she found it slightly cute the way he insisted on protecting her.

"Ok… I got you. Just remember he might not be your man, yeah?"

"The evidence is pretty stacked up against him…" Fear flashed through Emma's mind as she looked up at Callum, hanging on every word he spoke. "We're gonna get him Em. I promise." She nodded slowly and tried to calm herself down, breathing deeply and steadily, but the more she tired to think rationally, the more erratic her thoughts became.

"I'm really scared." Emma whispered, ashamed. "I don't wanna be on my own."

"I'll ring for someone to come down then." Callum offered, getting his phone out.

"No." Emma's reactions were quick and within seconds she had pulled Callum's phone from his grasp. "I don't want just anyone. Please…"

"B…but… Emma – you know how much this arrest would mean to me."

"Right." Emma sighed, disappointed. She nodded, grimacing, trying to put on a brave face. "I guess I'll see you later then." Her voice was cold and bitter, much like Stone's usually was. "But you might be a little busy righting up your arrest log."

"Emma…"

"No, no, it's fine." Emma smiled, waving Callum from her room. His shoulders dropped and he opened his mouth several times, but no words managed to come out, none sounding adequate when the hurt that Emma spoke registered in his mind.

"See you later." He mumbled, just before the door clicked closed.

Emma stared ahead of her, her eyes glassy, tears threatening to spill out. She couldn't work out why, but her mind kept flashing back to what Sally had said to her. Why was talking about her not needing or wanting a boyfriend right now bothering her so much? When she'd been with Callum, butterflies had been raging in her stomach, but that was nothing new. She'd first noticed it a few weeks ago, but since then the slight fluttering sensation had turned into much more frantic beating. So many times in the last hour she'd been with Callum, she'd wanted him to stop treating her so carefully, she wanted him to give her something she could fight back against, something to rebel against, but instead, he agreed with everything she said, and the usual exterior she loved cracking was already void.

Emma closed her eyes and turned into the duvet.

"Your ill Emma." Callum said, breathing heavily, his forehead resting against Emma's, his hands cupping her cheeks, their breath clashing as they both pushed against their hearts, neither wanting to give into temptation. "I don't want to take advantage."

"_I know what I'm doing." Emma insisted. _

"_Then why are you doing it?"_

"_I… 'coz… Cal, you know why…" Emma couldn't put her feelings into words. "Your feeling it too, otherwise you wouldn't be here." The pit of Emma's stomach ached and her breath was held baited as she felt Callum's breath near her face before his lips encased hers briefly before he pulled away, his hands finding their way around Emma's neck, keeping her close to him. Emma smiled, opening her eyes and biting down on her lower lip. "I didn't think that'd ever happen."_

Hands closed around Emma's rousing her from her slumber. She looked around, her chest heaving as it struggled to cope with her heavy breathing.

"Oh… sorry… I, err, I didn't mean to wake you…"

* * *

**_I'll write more of this whilst I'm on holiday so hopefully there will be lots to update when I get back. Please R'n'R as usual and... yeah :D_**

**_Emz x_**


	7. Ice Maiden

Emma rolled onto her side, her hand sprawling open as if grasping hold of something. It closed before she brought it up to her chest, holding it to herself, her right hand quickly joining her left and resting over it. She mumbled something almost silently, before moving once again, her hands still held tight to her chest, her hair falling over her face, shielding her features from the dim light the curtains were letting through.

"I really just wanna get back to work." Emma said to Gina before rubbing her eyes tiredly, carefully not to wipe away the concealer that was expertly covering huge semi circular grey bags that swamped her icy blue eyes.

"You've only just got out of hospital!"

"I've been home three days." Emma pointed out, as politely as possible. Even so, she doubted she'd slept better at home than she had at the hospital. She had vague recollections of herself waking up numerous times a night before tossing and turning, not really knowing what she was doing, but knowing she wasn't asleep.

"What medication are you on?" Inspector Gold asked, pulling out a folder from a bookcase and flicking through hundreds of A4 pages before settling for the one she wanted.

"Painkillers, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory… and there's some kind'a drug in the cream I'm using for the burns." Emma was able to drop her ailments into conversation so casually now, people barely even realised there was anything wrong, and with the careful application of make-up, who need now, especially with the promise of surgery if something failed to heal correctly. Gina sighed, dragging her finger down the page.

"Right… compromise. How does that sound?" Emma pulled her face up and shrugged.

"Depends…"

"Well it's the only way your gonna get out on of the station today." Gina said sternly, watching Emma's reaction carefully.

"Yeah? Great then."

"I want you in the office this afternoon and I want you stuck like glue to PC Fletcher, do you hear me? No flying solo and I hope it goes without saying no single handed heroics." Gina's voice was anything but forgiving and the dangerous glint that Emma had picked out of her brown eyes was telling her there'd be no second chances.

"Yes Ma'am." Emma replied respectfully. Emma made to leave Gina's office, her hand clamping down on the door handle, a ragged circle on Emma's wrist catching her superior's eye.

"Emma…" Emma turned around. "Just be careful."

"Ma'am…" Emma groaned, closing her eyes, silently begging for her not to go on.

"The paperwork that I had to endure three weeks ago was quite enough, thank you very much and if I get wind that I'll be signing a Death Certificate, I won't be impressed. PC Fletcher will have to give me a detailed report on your actions today; so I'd be set on impressing him, otherwise I'm afraid, it'll be station confinement until I think you're capable of otherwise." A grin was growing on Gold's face, showing Emma that she was only joking.

"Charming… Ma'am!" Emma laughed, shaking her head, and leaving the Inspector's office, before bounding off down the corridor to find Will.

"Emma…" she continued down the corridor, ignoring the previous call. She could hear footsteps following her down the corridor to the locker rooms where she hoped she'd be able to submerge herself in some kind of refuge. "PC Keane." A new tone found itself wormed into Callum's voice, and for once, he sounded like he had very little rope to throw Emma before he snapped.

"Serge?" Emma turned around, smiling falsely, looking up at him, her eyes telling him a very different story to her body language.

"I… just wondered how you were doing…"

"Great. Thanks." Emma replied. "I thought I'd see you at the hospital more. The paperwork must have been very hefty."

"Oh come on Emma…"

"PC Keane to you Serge." Emma said bitterly, cutting across Callum. Stone looked taken aback, Emma's abrupt language throwing him off guard. "I'll see you around." She walked away from him, not once looking over her shoulder, not once letting her shoulders drop or her cool 'ice maiden' exterior shatter.

Emma continued towards the locker rooms, walking straight into Will, not paying much attention to her surroundings, her mind in other placed. She stumbled backwards a few paces, before catching hold of Will's hand that had shot out.

"Oh… I was hoping I'd bump into you actually." Will laughed. "Well… not quite that literally, but – we're paired together today aren't we?"

"Yeah, and we're also out on the beat together, too." Emma smiled.

"You… what? Are you sure?" Will questioned, looking Emma up and down, seemingly looking right through the layers of makeup Emma was wearing.

"Mmm." Emma said happily. "Inspector Gold said so."

"Are you ok with it? I mean… it's not even a month ago yet." Emma groaned and rolled her eyes, before sighing deeply, showing disappointment in her eyes.

"I really ought to stop saying this – God knows how many times I've said it today alone, but I really, really have to get back to normal. As in _now;_ not after Milan or in a few weeks or when I've had chance to 'adjust', but _now_. So come on. Stop treating me as though I'm wrapped in cotton wool and give me the goss. I bet I've missed loads." Emma pulled her arm through Will's glancing behind her, for a split second locking her eyes with Callum, penetrating him with a cool stare as she started to drag Will down the corridor. She turned back to face the way she was going, before the pair started laughing and joking as if they were a couple of school children passing around saucy secrets. Emma pressed herself close to Will, whispering in his ear, before they erupted in yet more fits of laughter. The footsteps that were pounding the corridors grew closer, before Callum pushed passed the pair, his face twisted and bitter.

"Is that really appropriate PC's Keane and Fletcher?" He asked, not looking at them, but carrying on his rampage down the station. Will looked at Emma, just as she covered up the guilt she'd felt spring down her spine as Callum had barged his way between them. The makeup was no longer just covering up the physical damage, but emotional disrepair too. She'd maybe gone one step too far this time. Callum and Will were friends, and it definitely wasn't right to come between that, even if she did feel Callum deserved it the way he'd treated her recently.

* * *

**_Okay... so I haven't UD'd in about four weeks... and I don't really have any excuse because although I was away for two weeks and a weekend I've been back all this week and kinda... couldn't be bothered to update which is really awful so I'm very, very sorry. I will UD later this weekend to make up for it (and I'm hoping someone will PM me to remind me, if not then I'm begging Jilly to give me a kick on Sunday sometime!) Please review... tell me what you think and gimme a goold old yellin' at for not updating sooner. _**

**_Ta to the few who reviewed last chapter_**

**_Em x_**


	8. Tense

**_Seconds Warning_**

**_Tense_**

"What was that all about?" Will asked as he and Emma got a safe distance away from Sun Hill, both feeling it was probably clever to get well away from the eyes and ears of the stations finest before they started gossiping once more.

"Y'ano what? I have absolutely no idea." Emma said.

"I thought he was going to Milan with you…" Will stated, not really knowing how to worm the details from Emma.

"Yeah me too."

"Then surely he should be keeping you sweet?" Will laughed disbelievingly. Emma smiled and shrugged, maybe it was all for effect, but maybe there was a glimmer or jealousy in Callum and he didn't quite know how to deal with it.

"You'd think so right? But who knows with him." Emma kept her answer vague, careful not to show too much compassion, but equally too much hatred. "I tell you what, as much as I'm looking forward to this weekend, it's going to be bloody hard work if he's in this mood all the time."

"Then you ask someone else to come don't you? Otherwise… you won't get anywhere." Will didn't understand why Emma had invited Callum in the first place, they hadn't ever seemed that close, and he was sure that if she knew about his unorthodox ways they were sure to come to blows on that, not just the ways of general policing as they had done so many times before.

"He saved my life… it's just the way it has to be." Will walked around the corner before stopping Emma as he stood in front of her. She looked up at him, questioning his actions. She could feel the eyes of passers by cutting into her back, wondering what was going on.

"Don't let him push you into anything." Will said softly, his words shaking as he spoke to his best friend, worried about her safety.

"What are you trying to say Will?" Emma asked indignantly. Will blushed a soft pink colour, before looking at the ground, scuffing the side of his boots.

"Just that Cal… Stone's very unpredictable and you're going to Milan to get away from work and so on." Will explained slowly, careful not to muddle his words up too much. "I just thought you'd go with a girlfriend… that's all." Will shrugged, trying to finish the conversation there. Emma pulled herself up onto a wall, thankful to take her weight off her feet for a few minutes.

"Are you jealous?" Emma asked frowning, not quite sure how to read Will. Normally, she'd have no problem, but he was talking so vaguely, almost in riddles.

"I just care Em and I don't want to see someone like Stone messin' with your head, that's all." Will said. "I'm yer best mate, I'm allowed to care…"

"Well that's very sweet of you Will, but Stone's already done plenty with me up 'ere." Emma held her fingers to the side of her head, her tone exasperated as she ducked out of Will's view, eager not to have to answer any questions that may follow her revelation. "You didn't hear anything from me." Emma said quickly, jumping down onto her feet and starting a quick walk down the Bronte Estate.

"I take it I'm not allowed to ask any questions?" Will asked, a slightly bemused expression to his face as he pieced together what could have happened between Emma and their superior to make her say something so cryptic.

"No." Emma said bluntly. "But it ain't what you think." She smiled lightly to herself, a slight bounce to her feet as she realised there was more than a slight chance that Stone would really get what was coming to him now Will thought he knew something. There was no she'd get any crap off him this weekend under a threat from Will. Will decided it best to leave it at that, not wanting to alienate Emma – he'd ambush her after Milan.

Emma pressed her ear close to the sergeants' office, just holding her hand away from the door as she refrained from knocking.

"You could have really hurt her!"

"She shouldn't be at work."

"She wants to get back to normal – you can't stop her doing that!" Emma let her weight fall against the door, her head lolling back against the wood in as she began to give up hope with Stone. After a long silence, the first voice spoke again. "I don't care what you say, but the more you try and hurt that girl, the more you will push her away. And further you push her away…"

"Get out PC Fletcher."

"Serge…" Emma looked through the window, peering between the slatted blinds.

"You heard me, I've got no time for your games and equally I have no time for PC Keane's. If she's set you up to this…"

"Look, she's not; but I care and I don't wanna see her get hurt. It wouldn't be the first time and I'm not going to stand back and let it happen again." Emma could see the anger boiling in Will as his voice got louder and louder. Will stepped towards Callum. "She's offered you a ticket to Milan – I'm certain that Sal or Beth would have killed to go with her, but she chose you. And from what I've heard, you're just throwing it right back in her face." Will stepped back, and walked towards the door, throwing one last disgusted look back towards Callum. Emma jumped out of the way, pretending to look at the notice board opposite. She turned around just as the latch on the door clicked shut. "Emma…" Will's eyes widened in panic.

"Hey…"

"How long've you been out here?" Emma looked at the floor and smiled, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet guiltily.

"Err… I heard what was going on in there." She admitted softly. "I wasn't tryin' to or anything… but… yeah – I'm sorry." Will pulled Emma into a hug.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that. He's Prat Em…" Will sighed. "But if he makes you happy…"

"No… no… you're wrong." Emma interrupted. "We're not… haven't been… won't ever be." She corrected Will, using every tense she could figure.

"I'll let you get back to… whatever it was you were doing then." There was something about the way Will looked at Emma, and it told her that he didn't completely believe her, but once again, he knew better than to push her for the truth. Emma smiled, and waited for Will to go through the first set of doors before she knocked on Callum's door, not waiting for him to answer before she barged her way in.

"I just wanted to tell you that our flight is at seven AM on Friday morning. Er…" Emma blinked and looked away from Callum, determined not to let herself get drawn into his pity. "We have to be there at five though. To book in an' all that." Callum looked deep in thought, almost as though he hadn't paid any attention to what Emma had just said.

"Did you ask me this weekend… just to clear your conscience?" He asked, looking up at Emma, pushing himself back in his chair, taking his eyes of the computer screen.

"No." Emma said finally. "I invited you 'coz I wanted chance to get to know you better than I do… and just to try and bury whatever hatchet that seems to have been blowing between us." Callum smiled, seemingly happy with Emma's response – it had sounded mature beyond her years. "Will… PC Fletcher jumped to conclusions about our relationship because of… what happened this morning. It's nothing I can't handle."

"I'm glad to hear it." Callum smiled and stood up. "You've got a good friend in him…"

"Yeah…" Emma agreed, visibly confused. Since when was Callum fazed by friendship – since when did he notice it?

"I'll pick you up on Friday morning… if that's ok of course…"

"Yeah – that'd be nice."

"About half four? That gives us a bit of time…" Emma smiled and nodded. She started walking backwards towards the door, as if waiting for Callum to say something. "Just… take it easy. And… I'll see you later – well tomorrow… you know what I mean." Emma giggled.

"Yeah, I know…" She breathed in reply, wondering why Callum had found it so hard to string a sentence together whilst she'd been in his presence. Had she said something wrong, something that had made him feel uncomfortable? "Bye…"

* * *

**_Ta to Abi who PM'd me today. I was going to UD yesterday but I didn't get on the computer._**

**_Hope you like it and one last thank you to Jilly and Abi for reviewing - this ones for you!_**

**_Luv Emz x_**


	9. Free Spirit

**_Seconds Warning:-_**

**_Free Spirit_**

Emma squealed in excited as she and Callum stepped onto the plane. They'd been stuck in the departures lounge for way to long and Emma had began to feel like their break was never going to get on off the ground. The pair made their way to the seats, placing their hand luggage into the slim boxes beside their seats, both just able to sit down before a loud female voice boomed through the plane.

"Would all passengers ensure that they have taken their correct seats on flight 284 to Milan. The flight will take approximately three hours. BAA would like to wish you a comfortable journey. The flight will be leaving London Gatwick in five minutes." Emma sunk down in her chair, kicking her knees up against the back of the chair in front of her. She gazed out the window, the sun just visible over the skyline of London. The sky had a pink hue to it, in places the striking colour washing into orange.

"Red sky in the morning, Sheppard's warning." Emma recited softly.

"Good job we're getting away from here then, right?" Callum smiled, looking over Emma's head. Emma looked at Callum and grinned.

"And I couldn't think better company for it either."

"So what we doing when we get there?" Callum asked, not sure how to take what Emma had just said.

"Err… shopping!" She laughed, as if it was obvious. "Duh – why else would I be going to Milan?!"

"Mmm… why else?" Callum echoed, raising his eyebrow and looking at Emma sceptically. Even she wasn't capable of dragging him around shops all day.

"But you can stay in the hotel room and sulk – it's fine by me, don't worry." Emma smirked, sensing Callum was loosing faith in their holiday. Callum let his hand fall over Emma's.

"And there I was thinking you'd be wanting to check out all the old buildings and stuff." He sighed, squeezing her hand. "I was gonna try and impress you…" Emma bit down on her lip and looked at her feet, kicking off her flip-flops as she tried to stop herself thinking that Callum didn't have to 'try' and impress her – she wasn't going to let him get to her. The whole reason she had invited him was so that she could get over him and any little spark she may have felt.

"Please now pay attention to the safety demonstration, the plane will be taking flight in ninety seconds." Emma snapped from her thoughts, glancing at Callum's hand that had suddenly lifted from hers. She craned her neck to watch the women a few rows ahead of them. They were wearing right red suits, their hair tightly slicked back into grips. "In case of emergency, the exits on the plane are to your left and your right." The young girls motioned to the left and then the right, tottering slightly in their heels as the plane juddered. "If the plane has to make an emergency landing you are to fasten your seat belts and remain seated unless otherwise directed by the captain. From everyone at BA, we wish you a relaxing journey with us. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to speak to the cabin staff. Thank you."

Slowly, the brightly lit runway began speeding beside Emma, the many buildings lining it blurring into non-existence. Slowly, Emma and Callum were tilted backwards as the nose of the jet lifted into the sky.

"You ok…" Callum asked protectively, once the plane was riding the few wispy cloud thousands of feet in the sky, jetting over the outskirts of London. Emma grinned and nodded.

"Yeah." Despite the warnings from the doctors that she might get nauseous and faint whilst she was flying, she felt great, like a free spirit.

xoxoxoxoxxo xoxoxoxoxxo

"Callum…" Emma said softly, watching her actions carefully. He stirred slightly, not once opening his eyes. Emma smirked, trailing her finger along his wrist, watching the goose bumps prick up along his arm. "Hey sleepy head." She giggled, pulling her earphones from her ears and wrapping the wire tight around her Ipod. Callum smiled at Emma, watching her intently, an action that didn't go unnoticed by her. "We're almost here. I thought you might wanna be awake for the land." She said uneasily pushing her Ipod into her bag.

"Thanks." He said simply, gazing out of the window, the plane still relatively high in the sky, just missing several spires from old stone buildings around Milan.

"Looks great from up here." Emma said, looking over her shoulder, feeling Callum's breath against her ear.

"Almost there…" Callum said, after several minutes of silence, both Emma and he lost in the others company. He leant his chin on Emma's shoulder, still staring out of the window as the plane lowered itself onto the runway before it finally made contact with the ground, thumping gently before speeding along the ground, before it was brought to a standstill beside many modern buildings, the early morning sunshine bouncing off the sheet glass.

"You have now reached Milan, thank you for flying with British Airways. Please collect all your belongings from the arrivals lounge before departing. From the crew, we hope you enjoy your holiday."

Stepping down off the steps and jumped up and down and squealed, throwing her arms around Callum.

"We're here… we are actually here!" She laughed, her hair billowing in the breeze as Callum swing her around until she was begging him to stop. "Please… Cal…" She wheezed breathlessly, spinning on her feet once he dropped her to the ground as she tried to re-orientate herself. "Urgh… I feel sick." She moaned, shaking her head, burying her face into Callum's said as he directed her into the hanger where they were all being led.

"Here you go sweetie." Callum pulled Emma's pale pink case from the conveyer belt, before scrambling for his before it went around again. Emma giggled as he almost got dragged around with it. He brushed himself off, before picking his case from the ground, following Emma towards a set of large rotating doors with a large sign reading 'Uscita' over the top of it. "Hey… do you know Italian?" He asked Emma, looking around them at the signs, all of which were in Italian.

"Er… ciao?" She laughed, shaking her head helplessly. "I did a bit of brushing up on it when you were sleepin'… 'grazie' is thank you… please is 'per favore' and the only other one I've got is 'arrivederci' – guess what that is." She challenged.

"Eh… you think I paid attention to Italian at school?" Callum ridiculed. "I never actually thought I'd need it." Emma tutted, pretending to be unimpressed. "What?!" He defended himself. "Sig.ra De Vita was a boring, spineless and just a general waste of space who couldn't actually talk proper English."

"And you can talk 'proper English'?" Emma asked, mocking his own cockney slang that had become so lazy he very rarely pronounced 'T's' or 'H's'.

"No… a'right… but I mean – we couldn't even understand the woman!" Emma grinned, and shook her head amused, it was clear to her the conversation was going nowhere, neither of them knew anywhere near enough Italian to get them through the weekend and as usual, Emma found herself wondering if she was going to become one of those ignorant tourists who shouted and spoke slowly thinking that the Italian would magically understand English. Emma hailed a taxi, before fishing for their hotel tickets in her bag, before trying to pronounce the name.

"Uh… Il vec… vecchio grande hotel per favore" Emma stuttered, showing the cab driver the map of Milan she'd printed off at home, pointing at the pin that hung over 'The Old Grand'. A glimmer of recognition flashed across the drivers face and he smiled, nodding slowly, before belting up and pulling out of the lay-by. Within minutes, they were speeding past the sights of Milan, little cobbled walkways bordered with grand stone buildings or little crooked cottages. Every street was lined with little bistro style café's that spilled out onto the road or swanky, top class boutiques filled with tall, slim women routing around the racks for the latest designer garment that no doubt cost more than both Callum and Emma would earn in a month.

"'Ave a good 'oliday." The taxi driver smiled, closing the boot after hauling out Emma and Callum's cases for them outside the hotel they were staying at. Looking up at the large building, she gulped nervously. She'd always wondered what it would be like to stay in a hotel posh enough to have a huge canopy with red carpet and doorman standing to attention by the grand gold doors.

"Thanks." Callum smiled, beginning to roll both his and Emma's case towards the door, before he realised he'd left Emma standing back by the road. "Come on Emma! It can't be that bad." He smirked. Emma pulled herself out of the daze, imagining the long marbled hallways, gold rimmed doors, and extravagant water falls standing proudly in an open planned reception room.

"It's huge!" Emma echoed, her voice bouncing around the first room she and Callum stepped into after being welcomed to the hotel in a flash of Italian, neither understood yet both too polite to let the doorman know. They smiled in the right places, nodded and shook their head accordingly, before smiling graciously and making their way into the hotel.

"You're telling me…" He looked around, before clocking a deep mahogany desk at the far end of the red carpet. He tugged on Emma's hand, pulling her down the carpet. Emma stood nervously by the desk, leaning her weight onto the top, unaware that the young female sitting by the computer was staring at them. "You've got the tickets." He hissed. Emma jumped, digging in her bag, before laying two tickets out on the desk, not sure what to say.

"Che cosa è il nome ma' sono?" She asked. Emma looked and Callum panicked. He flicked through the Italian dictionary that Emma had handed him in a moment of haste as she'd been riffling through her bag, seemingly pulling anything but the tickets from it. Callum pointed at a paragraph that read 'Spiacente, noi don' la t parla italiano.' The women grinned and nodded. "You from England?" She asked, a thick Italian accent smothering her words.

"Yeah…" Emma nodded shiftily, already feeling awful at becoming the typical English tourist. She really was going to have to brush up on her language skills.

"What eez your names?"

"I think the room is booked for Keane… Emma Keane?" She said, frowning, the tickets not giving anything about the booking name away. The women clicked around on the computer, before running off a document on the computer and pulling a set of keys from a hook behind her.

"For… three nights?" She asked. Emma nodded. "You room eez number 1-3-9. Eet eez on floor number 4. I hope you 'ave a good stay weeth us." She handed over the key and sheet of A4 paper to Emma, smiling widely, her no doubt whitened teeth somewhat dazzling.

"Thank you." Callum smiled, not sure what they would have done if they hadn't had a multi-lingual receptionist. "Thank you." He repeated vaguely as he and Emma made their way to set of lifts concealed behind a grand staircase. "Trust us to get the room on the top floor!" He moaned, slouching against the wall as they waited to for the lift to come. Emma rolled her eyes and shook her head, playfully hitting Callum's arm in despair.

"Just be grateful you're out here at all Mister." She laughed. "And anyway, we'll have some ace view don't you think?" Her question remained unanswered as the pair stepped into the lift, the pinging noise drowning out her words before they jolted upwards.


	10. Alarm Bells

**_Seconds Warning:-_**

**_Alarm Bells_**

"Whatever…" Emma grinned, pulling her sweat top over her head and throwing it onto her bed. "I'm gonna go have lunch… and then I'm gonna go shopping." Callum made no attempt to stop her as she made her way towards the door, his gaze still lying on the large TV that sat at the foot of the beds. "Uh! Callum…" Emma moaned, sticking her bottom lip out, and throwing her arms across her chest. "If I thought you were going to be this boring I would have invited someone else!"

"And there I was thinking you didn't care whether I came with you or not!"

"Yeah? Well I do, so get yourself over here and come with me. You can watch the footie any time." Emma laughed, her hand lingering over the electricity switch on the wall. Callum rolled his eyes and jumped off the bed making his way over to Emma, turning the TV off on the way.

"Happy?" Callum asked.

"Ecstatic." Emma smirked, linking her arm through Callum's and dragging him through the hotel. From somewhere down the corridor, a shrill ringing rang through the hotel, the lights flashing as the noise got louder. Emma froze to the spot, her eyes a picture of fear.

"Emma…" Callum took hold of Emma's hand, trying to pull her out of the transfix she was in. "Em – we gotta get outta here, it's a fire alarm." The calm in Callum's voice was unnerving Emma. "Come on." This time, Callum was firmer in his tone, pulling Emma from the spot and dragging her down the stairs, every few seconds glancing at her worriedly. Her eyes had glazed over, her body working on autopilot as the years of school fire drills told her what she had to do. If only her intuition hadn't intervened before it was too late back in early May. Once out of the hotel, Callum and Emma followed the nervous masses to a large congregation on the opposite side of the car park. Everyone was huddled together despite the raging temperatures. "Are you alright?" Emma smiled and bravely and nodded.

"Yeah… yeah. I'm fine." She mumbled, looking up at the hotel, finding her and Callum's window, watching it intently as if expecting flames to burst through the glass without a seconds warning. Callum didn't look quite convinced with Emma's answer, however he didn't take it any further, instead, straining to listen to a short, balding man in a sharp black suit talking in fast Italian.

"Signore e signori, dopo che, un'indagine completa dell'hotel, noi e felice che era un allarme falso. Potete entrare nell'hotel." Callum smiled happily, understanding two words. He beamed at Emma, hoping to raise her spirits a little.

"Did you hear that? He said it was a false alarm Em!" Emma looked between Callum, the hotel manager and the hotel it's self.

"That's… great." Getting swept into the crowd, Emma disappeared from my Callum's side, slowly, almost nervously making her way back towards the hotel, her heart hammering against her chest.

"Are you ok dear?" Emma looked to her left side; an old woman was looking up at her worriedly, her eyes darting to Emma's eyes every time a tear dripped from them. Breaking out from the crowd, Emma broke into a run, bounding up the stairs two at a time, not stopping to look back until she reached the top, collapsing against the wall, her chest heaving as she tried to regain her breath. She opened her eyes, before cautiously heading down to the edge of the corridor, determined not to come into contact with whoever was walking up the stairs. Life was easier without the questions – be it in Italian or English

Seeing Emma dive into their room, Callum called out to her, but to no response. He knocked gently against the bathroom door, hearing soft cries coming from within them. "What's up?" He asked, leaning against the white glossy wood.

Emma jumped down the stairs two at a time, her heavy boots clattering against the cast iron stair frame.

"_That's it, everyone's out." A young woman with a clipboard informed Emma after scanning down a list of names. The two darted towards the door without a second look back until several footsteps behind them caught their attention. Emma turned around, watching the two hooded figures lurk in the shadows. _

"_Get out… go!" Emma pushed the woman from be her side, and she broke into a run, hearing the desperation in Emma's voice. Her heels echoed around the empty room as she made for the door, just before she left the room, turning to check Emma was ok. "Do you have a death wish?" Emma shouted, backing away from the two men. "You have to get out! Can you not hear the alarm?" The two men smirked, the shadowing twisting their faces, the dim light glinting in their eyes. They started sniggering evilly, with every step back Emma took; they took another two, before they had concealed themselves behind the stair well. _

Slowly the dingy grey of the office faded backwards, being swiftly replaced by am airy white and blue bathroom, the images well and truly gone, the mocking laughter still on a repetitive loop.

"I can see it all…" Emma sobbed. "I know I wanted to know it all…" The door opened and Emma fell into Callum's arms. He held her tight in a strong embrace, his hands working up and down her back soothingly. "But it's horrible." She breathed. "When I say I can see it all… I mean everything… the picture frame… the filing cabinet. It's all there… I hate it. It's like… some haunted…" She trailed off, not knowing how she could describe the office.

"Do you wanna tell me about it?" Emma shook her head.

"I just wanna forget."

"Emma…" Callum pleaded with her, knowing that keeping it all locked in wasn't going to help.

"The whole day – everything. All of it. From the beginning to the end… it has to go. I can't keep remembering it." Emma said defiantly. "I was horrible to you, and I got blown up." Emma laughed, shaking her head. "What a day…"

"You weren't horrible to me Emma. A lot of what you said… it wasn't a million miles off the truth." Callum admitted. Emma held her finger to his lips, silencing him.

"I don't wanna know." Emma knew this sounded selfish, but she had her reasons. The way he did things didn't exactly float her boat, and she'd rather not know the ins and outs of what her friends had become. If you tried to believe for long enough that it wasn't true, maybe their traits would begin to hide themselves. "Whatever way you choose to do things… well it works – most of the time. I just don't totally agree with the whole threatening thing."

"I went by the book when it came to doing the honours with the two blokes you ID'd in the hospital." Callum said. Emma smiled at the proud look he was radiating. "Sal reinforced the idea that you would ever let me forget it if I mucked up. So I knew I better not!"

"So many people got hurt." Emma sighed. "Sally was right in saying I would have been able to forgive you… but not for me though. Not 'coz of me I mean. For everyone else who was… hurt…" Callum sensed Emma was totally up front with him about her feelings. She was being so selfless – the fact that she had almost died, didn't seem to come into the equation.

"You're a good person Emma." Emma blushed and looked away from Callum.

"You ain't as bad as you like to think you are either." Emma smirked in reply. Callum faked a looked of offence, before he back Emma against the tiled wall.

"Take it back!" He grinned. Emma looked towards the window, pretending to try and depict what was going on outside the frosted glass.

"_If_ you were a bad person, you wouldn't have saved my life…" Emma insisted, determined not to give in.

"Not still on about that are you?" Callum groaned, looking a little bored.

"You would have come to see me in hospital…"

"I'm your sergeant, am I not obliged?"

"Oh…" Emma wasn't sure how to read Callum; his face certainly wasn't giving much away. "No… no your not." She couldn't quite hide the hurt in her voice, even though she was almost certain he hadn't found visiting her a burden.

"You know I loved coming to see you." Callum smiled, just able to work out the miss trust Emma was showing in both her body language, the way she couldn't quite look him in the eye and also in the way she spoke.

"You certainly wouldn't have spent the last half an hour making sure I was ok… now stop arguing with me – you really aren't that bad!" Emma wriggled away from Callum, smiling happily as he seemed to have given in.

"I'm gonna have a shower an' then go down to the bar. I don't really fancy going out any more." Emma decided, rather impulsively. Truth be told, she loved being around Callum, and decided that maybe a day out on Milan would have to come later in the weekend.

"Okay… I'll meet you down there." Callum offered. "If you want, that is." Emma smiled and nodded enthusiastically; she had been hoping he'd offer.

"Yeah, I'd like that." She replied politely, before stepping towards Callum and reaching up, quickly pressing her lips to his cheek, "Thank you so much… for everything. Coming with me, and… all that…" Emma pulled away, just in time to see Callum open his eyes and exhale slowly. Emma hadn't realised what an affect she had on the Sergeant.

"I'll see you later." Callum said, smiling briefly before he sought sanctuary away from Emma's intense persona. The catch on the bathroom door clicked shut and Emma turned the shower on, the heated spray soaking her arm. She slipped her clothes from her body before stepping under the steaming spray, reliving the moments she had spent with Callum over the last few months.

Emma tucked her hair behind her ear as she approached the bar. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling and candles flickered on every table. Looking around the room, Emma's eyes fell over Callum. She made her way towards him. Eyes seemed to follow her around the room – ladies dripping in diamonds and clad in killer heels and black cocktail dresses were looking down their noses at her and the men that had congregated to watch the football weren't even trying to hide the fact that they were staring. It was some comfort to know that the hotel's inhabitants weren't all so stuck-up. Emma sat down opposite Callum the cool red leather chilling her arms.

"I thought you'd be over there." Emma smiled, placing her bag on the floor next to her feet. Callum grinned sheepishly. "Ahh… so you were!"

"I might'a gone over to check the score once or twice." He admitted, looking Emma up and down, not for the first time. When he'd first seen her, he'd not realised it was her – he'd thought that whoever it was had been stunning – but now knowing it was Emma… he wasn't completely surprised he'd found himself thinking that. "I got you a drink. I thought I could remember you drinking white when we went out with the relief back home." He explained. Emma's eyes dropped to the table – she hadn't seen the large glass of white wine before her until then.

"Oh…" A small smile tugged at Emma's lips. Not every guy would have been quite so thoughtful. In fact, most she knew would have dumped her at the first sign of football.

"It is ok isn't it?" Callum asked anxiously. Emma picked up the glass, watching Callum as she look a small sip.

"It's lovely." She replied. "Thank you." For the first time Emma had been around Callum, she felt a little uneasy. She didn't know what to say, and didn't want to sound like she was warbling. She sunk lower in the armchair, looking out of the window next to them and over a large lake surrounded by huge trees. So much had happened already, she had to remind herself that it was only two o'clock and there was at least another eight hours left to the day.

"Are you ok now?" Callum asked, breaking the silence nervously.

"Yeah. I was being silly earlier – it was nothing."

"I had mascara on my top." Callum protested. "It can't have been 'nothing'!" Emma smirked; realising Callum had changed. "Seriously though Emma, if you ever wanna talk, get something off your chest…"

"That means a lot." Emma squeezed Callum's hand and smiled at him, before he returned the smile, her heart skipping a beat as he did so.

"I know you said earlier that you didn't fancy going out… but I reckon it'd do you good if you had a look around, got to know where you are and stuff." Callum suggested, after draining his pint glass of the final few drops of beer. Emma looked thoughtful for a moment, before relenting. They were only in Milan until late Sunday evening, so had to make the most of it. There definitely wasn't time for hang ups and insecurities that had been brought from home.

"Only if we can have a look around some of the shops." Emma bargained cheekily, her eyes shining. Callum laughed and nodded – the weekend was for Emma, and if that was the only way to get her out of the hotel, then so be it. After all, how bad could it be?

* * *

**_Hey :D_**

**_Once again I find myself apologising for the lack of UDing I seem to be doing. We're coming to the end of the story... I think I've got to chapter twelve or thirteen and there is maybe one or two to go after that. Hopefully I'll have in finished by the end of September, but it depends if I can motivate myself to write this story. I'm a little addicted to another one I'm doing at the moment :s_**

**_Please RnR and I'll UD before the weekends out (hopefully. If I don't get online on Sunday night then Monday)_**

**_Thanks Em xxx_**


	11. Firm Believers

**_Seconds Warning_**

**_Firm Believers_**

"I could spend thousands in here…" Emma smiled as she looked in awe around a small boutique in the centre of Milan. It had to be the fourth or fifth they'd been in, but it was her favourite by far. The ceiling was draped in pale pink material that shone in the sun light and glass twisters hung from the window, catching the light and sending a rainbow on colours over the small room.

"So I've seen." Callum grinned, watching Emma through a floor length mirror as she tried on yet another outfit. This time, she'd chosen a brown knee length skirt with a sky blue wrap around top, embellished with sequins. The loose material floated in the breeze that rippled through the shop from the open door, beatifying the effect the outfit had. She teetered slightly in the brown leather heels she'd picked out as the shop assistant fussed around her, holding various items of blue jewellery to Emma, talking away in rushed Italian, before pulling out yet more sets of earrings and necklaces. "How much?" Callum asked. Emma bit her lip as she looked at the price tags.

"Fifty seven Euros for the top and eighty eight for the skirt… seventy six for the shoes…" She trailed off uncertainly trying to add it all up in her head. Mental arithmetic had never been her strong point.

"Two hundred and twenty one Euros." Callumsaid, figuring why Emma had gone quiet. Her face paled as she realised just how expensive the clothes she was wearing was. "What's that… hundred and sixty… na, hundred n' seventy odd quid. I think…" The shop assistant handed Emma a teal blue scarf with a gold thread running through it.

"That would just finish the clothes off." She said, her voice heavy with an Italian accent that made her words almost incoherent. Emma smiled weakly, letting the woman wind the scarf around her neck before she stood back to admire her handiwork. "Very good… very beautiful… una bella regazza!"

"The scarf's thirty one Euros." Emma sighed despondently. "I love it. But there's no way." Emma had almost disappeared back into the changing rooms, deciding that there was no way her pay check could give her anything more than New Look, or maybe River Island at a stretch. How Italian women could justify spending so much, she'd never know, but it obviously wasn't for her.

"You should go for it Emma." Callumsaid suddenly. "I mean… I think it looks great… maybe you should treat yourself, you deserve it."

"Maybe…" Emma saw Callum cross his arms out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm sure you could get a scarf like that back home… get the skirt, get the top and the shoes. You'll never forgive yourself if you don't." Emma knew Callum was right – she'd never found clothes that fitted her quite so well, that had flattered her figure and she felt good in.

"Maybe…" Emma repeated, coming around to the idea, all be it slowly. Emma disappeared into the cubicle, and Callumknew now it was up to her. She looked beautiful as the assistant had said, but it wasn't his place to say as much. A few minutes later, she re-appeared back in her black linen trousers and a bright pink tank top. "My bank manager's gonna have a fit!" Emma smirked at Callum as she looked down at the clothes she'd folded over her arm. She pushed the scarf back onto the rail, but continued with the rest of the outfit towards the cash desk.

"You make good choice." The woman smiled as she folded each item in silver tissue paper before gently slipping it into a paper bag. "That's… two-two-one Euros." Emma handed over a wad of notes, knowing that was half of the cash she'd changed up back in London. She finished counting the money, before handing Emma a receipt and nine Euros. "Thank you." Emma smiled before she followed Callum from the shop, taking one last look at the scarf and jewellery at the back of the store – it was definitely going one step too far.

"You sure it's ok?" Emma asked as she and Callum started walking along the cobbled pavement. Callum rolled his eyes.

"Yeah – you'll knock the guys dead when we get home." He smiled.

"Thanks…"

"They won't be able to keep their hands off you…" Emma noticed the strain in Callum's voice, as if he was forcing himself to say the right thing by her, not taking into account his own feelings.

An hour or so later, Emma was well and truly shopped out, and although she wouldn't admit it, her feet were throbbing and her flip flops had cut into her big toe. She flopped down on the grass, several bags splaying out around her as she closed her eyes. She and Callumhad split up for a while and had both seen the park on the way into Milan from the hotel and agreed to meet there. Emma knew her head was only just visible above the tall flowerbeds, but she'd already seen Callum, and knew he was heading in the right direction. Once Callum had joined her, he sat down next to her, counting up the bags in his mind.

"You got anything else?" He asked. Emma grinned and looked at a small carrier bag.

"Yeah… just a photo frame I found at the market. It was only a couple of Euros and it is to die for." She pulled it out of the bag, handling the cut glass frame carefully, running her finger over some writing that had been hand painted on before covered in what the stall owner had clamed to be 'crystals'. Emma wasn't quite sure that you could get hold of hundreds of tiny crystals for less than two Euros, but still it looked stunning, especially when it caught the sunlight.

"Nice." He looked over the frame before wrapping it in the bubble wrap once more and dropping it into the small bag.

"I see you've got something too." Emma eyed the brown bag he'd dropped next to him. Callum shifted slightly and picked up the bag.

"You'll probably kill me… but I went back to that shop an'… well, I got you this…" He pulled the rich blue scarf Emma had nothing short of fallen in love with in the little boutique along the high street from the bag and handed it to Emma, watching her expression change from indifference to utter shock.

"You… oh my God Cal… thank you so much – you didn't have to…" Emma gasped, handling the soft material between her fingers.

"I was going to give it to you later." He smiled, before wrapping the cloth loosely around her neck – the pink of her t-shirt didn't really go with the teal of the scarf, but it didn't matter, somehow it managed to look good anyway.

"It was so expensive." Emma said dreamily, catching her breath as Callum's hands brushed her neck.

"You are worth every penny. Or Euro as it was." Emma giggled and turned around so Callum could admire the scarf. "It looks great." He smiled, pulling a few of the gold tassels from a knot.

"Uh… Thanks." Emma couldn't stem the blush that was creeping up her neck. She glanced down at the grass, pulling a blade from the ground and running it between her fingers to take her eyes from Callum's. Just seconds later, Callum had placed his hand over Emma's, causing her to lookup in shook, her heart pounding, the palm of her hand slipping against the ground making her fall towards him. He took the grass from between her fingers, before dropping it to the ground. He had noticed Emma hadn't taken her eyes off him. She sat up slowly, leaning towards Callum, parting her lips slightly as she neared him. His hand grazed her cheek as he too leant towards her. Before the couple had realised, they were locked at the lips; Emma's arms wrapped around Callum's neck, pulling him closer to her, her hands wandering through his hair as his hands caressed each of her cheeks gently. Emma pulled back, almost a sense of shock running through her as she felt Callum's tongue probing her lips in attempt to part them. She smiled up at him, shaking her head slightly in amusement at the irony of the situation – she had thought the weekend would get him out of her system.

"I… I thought Paris was the city of love and romance and all things mushy." Emma smiled softly, her nose centimetres from Callum's as she spoke, her breath tickling his skin. Callum smiled.

"You've no idea…" Callum replied as Emma brushed away a few flecks of her pale pink lip-gloss. "…That's been brewing since…"

"Before the bombs." Emma finished his sentence, once again, her lips sorting his.

"Yeah…" Callumagreed, after they'd both pulled back once more. He laced his fingers through Emma's and let their entwined hands fall to the ground. He hadn't quite expected Emma's reaction to him buying her the scarf to be quite so… explosive. He was expecting a mumbled thank you and maybe a quick hug – not even that. Everything happened for a reason, yes he was a firm believer of that, but when Emma had invited him to Milan, she like him, had been naïve enough to believe it was on firmly platonic grounds…

* * *

**_Hey :D_**

**_This is for Abi (who is the only person out of 49 readers to review chapter ten) and Jilly who Beta'd this... a good few months ago! I don't have much more to say, except... well please review and tell me what you think. Any criticism is good criticism - ta Emily xxx_**


	12. Sudden Reality

**_Seconds Warning:-_**

**_Sudden Reality_**

Emma strained to hear the birds and the soft gushing of the waterfall outside their hotel room window. She could easily get used to waking up with that outside her bedroom window as opposed to a fairly busy London road. It was close to ten o'clock already, and light was streaming through the parting in the thick curtains that otherwise did a pretty good job at blocking out the morning sun.

Emma pulled back the covers that loosely hung over her body, looking down her body, before seeing Callum's hand draped loosely over her waist, just in between the hemline of her t-shirt and the waistband of her trousers. Emma smiled slightly; it definitely wasn't some dream as she had found herself half believing. She cuddled back into the covers, her own hand fall to Callum's as she fluttered her eyes shut, not wanting to pull herself away from this never-in-a-million-years dream turned sudden reality.

"What's the time?" Callum asked groggily, stirring as he felt Emma moving around slightly next to him.

"Five to ten." Emma breathed, sighing in relief, as Callum didn't show any signs of shock or regret.

"It's so quiet here." Callum said, pressing his lips against Emma's shoulder.

"Makes a change to the A whatever road that's outside my house." Emma agreed, turning in Callum's arms, just making out the second single bed that was next to theirs, a nightstand separating them. After several minutes, quietly contented lying with their arms entwined around the other, almost as if they were in awe by the other's presence, Emma broke the silence between them, looking up towards him before she spoke. "What d'you wanna do today?" She asked.

"Mmm?" Callum mumbled in thought. "I guess staying here is out of the question?" He asked.

"We can lie in bed all day back home. We've only got another day here." Emma reasoned sensibly. As much as she could have lay in bed all day, she'd never be able to come to Milan again and feel the way she felt. It wasn't just any old holiday – it had been paid for by her colleagues; her best friends; her makeshift family and in her opinion she was graced with the best possible presence. Callum took one of his arms from around Emma, reaching behind him and grabbing the wad of leaflets he'd left on the bedside table before dropping them in front of Emma and resting his chin on her shoulder so he could have a look at them with her.

"Any ideas?" Callum asked.

"Uh… the cathedral looks pretty impressive." Emma said, pointing at a small picture of a large, very grand looking stone structure.

"Okay… so we could go and have lunch, then grab a tram to the cathedral… maybe have a look around the other tourist hotspots that are near the centre?" Emma nodded, before pulling the covers back around the couple once more. "So we aren't get up just yet then?" Callum asked, before Emma grinned and shook her head defiantly. "It's too early…"

"Early?" Callum echoed incredulously. "This is the latest I've been in bed since I became a copper!" Emma laughed, shaking his head.

"Jeez Cal, you obviously like to suck up t' your superiors." Emma grinned. "Ever heard of pullin' a sicky?" She asked, as if it was something she did everyday.

"You just watch your mouth and remember who you're talkin' to Em!" Callum laughed.

"You already reckon I'm a bad girl anyway, so I doubt much I tell you could shock ya." Emma replied, not realising how easy it would be to laugh and joke about how much she used to wind Callum up.

"Between us we're doing ok then – I'm… what was it? Illegitimate." Callum watched as Emma squirmed a little bit at what she'd called him.

"I apologised for that though…" Emma whined.

"And you are the good girl come bad girl. We've more in common than we first realised." Emma giggled, shaking her head.

"Me n' you mister, have nothing in common, apart from right now, we happen to be in the same bed and work at the same station. That's as far as it goes." She said playfully, resting her hand against Callum's bare chest, before pressing her lips to his, almost as way of apology.

"Opposites attract then." Callum concluded, before sitting up. "Now Emma, a lesson about me, I hate staying in bed when there are things to be done." Emma pouted, looking up at him, batting her eyelashes.

"Even when you're with me?" She asked.

"Hang on… just a minute ago you wanted to make the most of today." Callum said confused, as he pulled himself from the covers.

"Yeah… I still do." Emma assured him. "I just thought we could lie in a little bit, that's all." She explained, not moving from under the covers. Callum bent down over the side of the bed, kissing Emma, before he found himself being pulled down on top of her, her arms reaching around his neck as she deepened the kiss.

Emma looked over the secluded square she and Callum had stumbled across after their visit to the cathedral. They made their way towards one of the many cafés that spilled onto the pathway, and square itself.

"How come London's such a pit compared to this place?" Emma whined as she pulled back a seat and fell down into it, before pulling her left foot onto her knee and massaging it were her wedged espadrilles has rubbed the side of her toe.

"I had been wondering…" Callum grinned, shaking his head. "Remind me why I work there again?" He asked.

"Hmm… friends?" Emma replied sceptically, lifting up her eyebrow. "Family? Money?" She knew they were the only reasons she was still stuck in London and not living the lux life in a more laid back fashion. Emma looked up from her red and blistered feet, just catching a glimpse of Callum's downtrodden expression.

"Friends… yeah, maybe – it's the station init." He speculated. "Just leaving… it wouldn't be right. I can't imagine working anywhere else."

"Me neither." Emma said slowly, after a few seconds, still deep in thought about what Callum's face had been saying a few seconds before. "I've never heard you say anything about your family… are they in London?" Emma asked carefully. Callum shifted, nudging the table slightly.

"My dad left me, mum and me sister for some other girl when I was younger; apart from the odd birthday card or Christmas present, I haven't heard from him. And… well I don't get on with me step dad to say the least. As soon as I could leave home, I did. Mum doesn't call anymore. When she got re-married, Anna changed her name too." Callum said softly, a hint of regret and remorse in his voice.

"How old were you?" Emma asked. "Like, when your dad left?"

"I was ten… Anna was eighteen months. Then mum met her new bloke about two years later… suddenly, he was everywhere I turned. He loved Anna to pieces; treated her like his own, but she was young; impressionable, whereas I was old enough to remember dad. I got on with dad too well – I couldn't accept that he'd gone for good." Emma took his hand over the table, her eyes shining.

"I had no idea. I'm sorry…" She said, her voice barely more than a slight whisper of compassion.

"It's not your fault." Callum smiled reassuringly, squeezing Emma's hand.

"D'you not miss your mum and Anna?" Emma asked. Her relationship with her family was rocky at the best of times, but she'd miss the lot of them if she lost contact with them. Callum shrugged concomitantly. "D'you even know where Anna is? What she's doing? N' your mum… what about her?" Again Callum shrugged.

"Anna probably doesn't even remember me. She was… seven when I left." Callum recalled.

"You were sixteen?" Emma asked, incredulous. Callum nodded, his lips slightly upturned at her care. "Where d'you go?"

"College." Callum said simply. "Mum and I might not have seen eye to eye, but she wouldn't have wanted me sleepin' rough – she paid towards the fees an' the rent on the halls for the first year or so 'til I got myself sorted."

"Wow." Emma said, shocked.

"After that I went travelling for two years. Then I came back and decided I wanted to work in the MET."

"More fool you." Emma laughed, trying to lighten the atmosphere. Callum grinned, not quite loosing the sad glint in his eyes. Emma looked around her, the conversation between her and Callum disintegrating to nothing. She noticed one of the waitresses lingering by the door, eying up her and Callum. "I think we should order something." Emma noted, nodding towards the café. Callum followed her motion, acknowledging the waitress.

"Oops." He smiled, not looking remotely sorry, as he reached for the menu, scanning down it, as Emma grabbed the second one.

"Eww." Emma pulled a face, cringing. "Squid." She mumbled, her stomach churning at the thought.

"Nice. And they wonder why the kids of today are addicted to MacDonald's." He sniggered quietly. "I'm gonna go for a Panini I think." Callum said, the quid obviously not taking his fancy.

"Yeah… I was wonderin' about that too." Emma agreed, looking over to where the waitress was standing. She hadn't moved, and still had her eyes fixated on the couple. She nodded at her, and she hurriedly came over pulling out her notepad and a pen.

"Ciao." She smiled, her pen poised. Emma and Callum both smiled politely. "Che posso prenderla?" However their smiles quickly faded to almost identical looks of pure panic. "You are from England?" She asked, stuttering slightly.

"Yeah…" Emma replied, smiling awkwardly, glad she could speak the language.

"What is it can I get you?" She asked, again.

"Uh Chicken Pesto panini." Emma said, before looking at Callum.

"And I'll have a Hot Italian please." Callum said, before looking quizzically at Emma who was biting down on her bottom lip in desperate attempt not to burst into fits of giggles.

"Thank you." The girl smiled, before busying herself at the next table, talking in fast fluent Italian once again, as if rubbing it in that Emma and Callum couldn't speak the lingo.

"Hot Italian." Emma exploded into fits of laughter, shaking her head.

"Yeah." Callum smiled proudly.

"I bet you don't even like whatever it is that's on it – you just wanted to say that to some poor girl." Emma accused jokingly. Callum looked hurt, but Emma could tell he was mocking her. His eyes were fighting to tell a different story to the one he was trying to convince Emma by.

"No." He said defiantly, looking up from the table after a few seconds and smirking at Emma. "Anyway, what would I want with a 'Hot Italian' when I'd only have her for another day?" Callum asked.

"Maybe you'd finally have an excuse to get away from London?"

"Maybe I would, but I wouldn't want one – not now." Callum said smoothly, taking the menu from between Emma's fingers and replacing it with his hand.

"Aww." Emma cooed. "Getting soft in your old age?" She asked, wondering what he'd do if she was to wind him up now. He glared at her for a while, his eyebrow raised before he broke his silence.

"Only for you though." He whispered. Emma's heart skipped a beat, melting in the process, she managed to smile, but all words had left her, apart from those that Callum had just spoken.

Forty five minutes later, after much arguing, Emma paid the bill. Her treat for him buying her the scarf. He didn't like it, but he knew she could be stubborn when she wanted to be. As the pair walked along a narrow street, lined either side with wobbly looking old houses, Callum snaked his arm around Emma's waist, pulling her closer to him as he did.

"Did you think this would happen, is that why you came?" Emma asked, as they continued to meander down the street.

"Is that why you invited me?" Callum shot back quickly, without answering.

"I thought it might help me get over you." Emma admitted shyly. Callum laughed – he didn't think it mattered that the exact opposite had happened. "I didn't think there was any chance… y'ano… after everything." She explained, she and Callum slowly stopping before they turned at looked at each other.

"I told myself it was all purely amicable. Nothing more, nothing less." Callum said. "Although I'm glad it isn't." Emma wrapped her arms tight around Callum's neck, before pulling back slightly and her lips to Callum's with short, sweet kisses, before he deepened the kiss, both forgetting they were standing in the middle of Milan.

Parting the kiss, Emma leant her forehead against Callum's, and closed her eyes, taking in the unexplainable feeling she had running like electric through her body.

"What's going to happen when we go back home?" She asked.

"What do you want to happen?" Callum asked gently.

"I know what I want, but I dunno if it's what you want." Emma replied. "An' I dunno if… like it'd be aloud." She added, making his obvious what she wanted.

"So you want to make a go of things?" Callum asked, trying to mask his surprise. Emma nodded shyly. "Who cares what the MET thinks Doll?" Callum grinned, his hands slipping down Emma's back and resting on her hips.

"Will they not make it difficult for us. Will I not be judged for… uh… I dunno but, with everything that's happened – the bomb and all that…"

"Let them assume Em." Callum said carelessly. "If you're using me just to get back some kind of normality in your life – some stability…"

"I swear I'm not." Emma interrupted.

"Okay… all the same, then it's none of their business is it?" Emma shook her head.

"If we can keep things professional." They both murmured, before smiling, and falling into each other's arms again, both picturing a textbook from training, telling them just what relationships cut across rank could do. Emma'd even had to do a role-play with what was assumed to be typical relationship ending and then write an essay about the repercussions. It wasn't a bracket or statistic Emma wished to fall under, but for Callum it was worth it. And anyway, she and Callum weren't about to end so nastily as the couple in the role-play. She was sure of that much.

* * *

**_Thanks to all who reviewed, its always greatly appriciated :D_**

**_Two more chapters to go, and then I think I have a sequal in the pipeline. Interesting turn in events at the end, so you'll have to keep reading to find out what happens next! Before you go getting too excited - dont! The last chapter will not be popular, hopefully the sequal will sort everything out!_**

**_I'll try and get the rest of the fic up by the end of this week so... Wednesday/Thursday update and then Saturday/Sunday depending on what I have on. (No bribing here but the more reviews, the quicker the updates lol)_**

**_Hope you like it so far_**

**_Emily x_**


	13. Reminscience

**_Seconds Warning_**

**_Reminscience_**

"Can't believe we're going home tonight." Emma sighed as she threw her pile of clothes from one of the beds into her case, before falling on it; looking out of the full-length window thoughtfully. The sun was pouring in, and the slight murmur of the road beyond the hotel somehow managed to be slightly reassuring in a way that London roads could never manage. "Another week would be… heaven."

"Hmm…" Callum didn't agree or disagree, but Emma knew that another week in Milan was better than going back home. He sat on the bed, looking at the huge stainless steel clock mounted on a grand oak backboard. "Five past twelve. We ought to have set our alarms. Really made the most of it."

"One last walk?" Emma offered her hand after zipping up her case, jumping down on the contents several times. Callum silently look Emma's hand, his thumb working caring circles into its back as they walked along the corridor that earlier in the week had brought them closer than either thought possible.

-

My heart started pounding, and all I could think of was the ringing in that warehouse… I'd thought it was some sick joke. That someone was following me – forcing me to relive my worse nightmares. It almost wasn't real – all I could see was the warehouse; the lights flickering and people pushing and shoving to get out. I couldn't tell what had happened from what was happening. It felt like I was living in a dream world that had been illustrated for a book. Everywhere was dark… all the faces that I saw were distorted and disfigured into gruesome monster like creatures taunting and mocking me. The only face that I saw comfort in was Callum's. He looked so…

Worried… I've never been more worried about anyone in my life. Tears were pouring down Emma's face like water cascading down a waterfall. She looked terrified – I can only imagine what was going through her mind – you could tell just from looking at her that the continuous bleeping of the alarm was hurting her. With every siren she winced, picking up her pace a notch until she was running. Once we'd got outside – we were squashed into such a small space – it was worse than the tubes in London, and that really is saying something. She kept glancing at the hotel, and then at the people around her, who boxing her into an impossibly small space. It was all I could do to stop myself reaching out to her and just… stopping her looking so helpless, so scared.

-

"Where are we going?!" Callum laughed as Emma decisively turned down yet another street. They'd been silent for several minutes, and the hotel was just visible through the haze of the sun.

"I dunno… we haven't been this way so I thought… thought it might be nice." Emma replied, shrugging. "Okay… so best bit of this weekend?" She asked, trying to string up conversation to take Callum's mind off just where they were going.

He paused in the middle of the pavement, wrinkling his nose slightly, deep in thought. "When I gave you the scarf." Emma smiled, her hand subconsciously rising to her neck as she realised it was back at the hotel. "You?"

"When we went down to the bar on Friday." Emma smiled, recalling the memory. "The ladies there…" She giggled. "Were all in dresses and then in the corner there were a load of lads. They were all staring… the women were whispering – tutting. The blokes were wolf whistling. Then I sat down opposite you and they all started shooting daggers our way like the ladies had. And you'd already bought me a drink. Not many other guys would have done that. It meant a lot more than I let on." Emma let Callum twist his arm around her waist, not letting going of her hand as it crossed her stomach. "When we kissed was a pretty close second though." Emma admitted shyly. "An' then… when you told me about your family. I didn't think you'd let me in like that – it was a nice surprise."

"Waking up next to you – realising, like the whole of Friday hadn't been a dream…" Emma smiled to herself – she'd bagged herself a hopeless romantic, and normally the clichés that would have made her toes curl and her stomach churn had the total opposite effect. Her heart had skipped a beat and tonnes tiny butterflies were causing havoc in her stomach, leaving her with a ditsy, lightheaded feeling and a creeping pale pink blush.

"Best view?"

"The park outside the hotel…"

"The flowers." Emma agreed, nodding. It was a hard view to beat. All the vivid colours dancing in the wind with the bees and butterflies – it was like a perfectly choreographed piece. "But this…" Emma smiled to herself. Weeping willows fell into an intricate knot of waterways that weaved their way around Milan, and the sun sparked in the mossy green water. "Isn't half bad either." She looked at Callum, who Emma could see was more shocked than she was. When she'd seen pictures of the Darsena Canal system, it had looked impressive, but now they were there, everything had that extra bit of life and colour.

"This is it?" Callum asked.

"Yeah I saw it in one of the booklets. That's kinda not all. I've hired us a boat for an hour." Emma grinned, looking down at her and Callum's reflection in the water. "I thought it would be a nice way to spend the last day… that is alright, isn't it?" She kicked a lose pebble into the canal, their reflection fragmenting into hundreds of ripples. Emma was slightly uncertain by Callum's quiet. She'd never shocked him to silence before and she couldn't help but wonder if it was a good thing.

"Alright? Emma, it's tonnes more than that!" Callum exploded, touched by Emma's thoughtfulness.

"Excuse me, are you Emma?" A tall Italian man walked over to the couple, his greying hair flopping lazily over his eyes. Emma nodded enthusiastically. "Good… your boat is just over here – and then it's over to you." He smiled, beckoning Emma and Callum towards a mossy roofed wooden hut. Callum slipped his hand through Emma's as they walked a few paces behind the older man, he didn't look at Emma, his actions feeling like the most natural in the world. "Here is a map of the canal. You 'ave an hour, so it's best to take this route." He traced his finger between two black lines. "It's all… 'ow do you say it… sign posted, so you will not lose yourself unless you divert off this route. It gets very confusing." He warned, grinning. Emma and Callum both smirked, looking at each other. Emma nuzzled into Callum's side, nervous, but glad she'd organised their last day. "I show you to the boat." The couple were guided over to a small canopied boat with an even smaller outboard motor attached to the back. "These are the key – it is easy to use. You will pick it up quick." He dropped a small silver key into Emma's hand, before holding out his hand and helping her into the boat, steadying it with his booted foot when it rocked slightly. Emma squealed as she was flung from one side of the boat to the other, her foot catching the chair, stopping her falling into the green water.

"Are you ok?" Callum asked, obviously worried but not enough for him to be able to wipe the lopsided grin off his face. Emma smiled and nodded, letting him help her get up. It was times like this that she knew she had made the right decision on inviting Callum to Milan. She'd had fun and they had both done something that almost definitely wouldn't have happened back home. Despite all the bad things that had come out of the bombings, this was one good thing, but it wasn't quite goon enough to put the day into perspective. Not just yet…

* * *

**_:D _**

**_Hey _**

**_Not really sure what to say, apart from the obvious, but this is the second to last chapter... _**

**_Also the sequal is under way so... yeah watch this space!!_**

**_Emily x_**


	14. Sacrifice

"He told me that you were clumsy and that I ought to keep an eye on you

"He told me that you were clumsy and that I ought to keep an eye on you." Callum grinned, gently pulling his fingers through Emma's hair as she leant against him. Beneath them, the planes engines shuddered into action as people around them were all jolted into their seats, belting up quickly before the BA plane slowly started moving along the run way.

"Maybe you ought to." Emma replied cheekily, not dragging her eyes from Callum's.

"He's right though – and he didn't even know you! I mean for God's sake Emma, even a vender on a street in Milan worked out you were a little on the… accident prone side." Emma smiled innocently, desperately thinking of a comeback as the plane tilted towards the sky. It edged higher and higher, eventually soaring above the buildings she and Callum now recognised around the city, each wondering whether they'd ever have a weekend better suited to them again.

"What you see is what you get." She laughed, knowing it couldn't really be further from the truth. Callum raised an eyebrow sceptically, just like Emma thinking about all the shenanigans that had taken place before the bombings. "I've really enjoyed the weekend." Emma smiled sincerely, touching Callum's lips with her own briefly. "Thank you." Callum frowned, confused as to what he needed thanking for. "For coming with me. For giving me a second… third or fourth chance." She added. He didn't know what to say, having never been any good with sentimental moments. Smiling, he rested his arm on Emma's side, his arm snaked around Emma's neck.

"_We have now reached a height of thirty thousand feet. We will be arriving at London Gatwick in approximately one and a half hours. From the captain and crew, we hope you enjoy your flight with BA."_A crackly voice gained the attention of the passengers, all the idle chitchat dying down quickly.

"I will s'long as none of our luggage is lost." Callum said grumpily, eying one of the speakers with distaste. Emma giggled lightly, her eyes fluttering closed as the adrenalin that had kept her going throughout the weekend finally gave up on her. You wouldn't have known she was on various drugs to prevent infection or pain. In fact, she'd even managed to forget as much herself. "No way Em." Callum poked her arm several times until Emma's straight face cracked into a grin. "You aren't giving up on me now – I'm sure you can last an hour or two to save me from the realms of total boredom."

"But I'm tired." Emma groaned, trying to cover a yawn.

"And I'm fed up." Callum retorted smoothly. "Come on Emma…" He pleaded.

"What d'you wanna talk about then?" Emma asked, sitting upright and leaning against her own chair. Callum paused, chewing on his lower lip, as if daring himself to say something.

"Us." He said finally. Emma swallowed, almost choking; completely taken aback by the chosen topic.

"Ok…"

"I'm really glad this weekend's happened." Callum admitted quietly, almost as if he didn't want anyone to overhear him talking so deeply, so passionately; in a manner that would leave any onlooker in no doubt that he had a twin or imposter working in London.

"But…" Emma sensed. Callum sighed – she really got to him. Somehow, unlike anyone he'd ever met, she was able to suss him out just be looking at him.

"But I don't know where I stand now." All weekend, Emma had been steeling herself from the idea that her and Callum would make a seamless transformation from holiday romance to fully-fledged couple. Now the question was in front of her, she wasn't sure how rational or likely that was. He was someone else at work, just like she was. They'd both let each other in to their deepest darkest secrets, a side to both that no one else had seen and although she couldn't see them together with ease, she couldn't see them apart now they knew everything from each others habits, to vices to loves and finally secret hobbies. It really was an impossible situation, and to make matters worse, she had no idea how to answer Callum.

"No…" Emma sighed. "I guess I don't either." She admitted. "At work your… the formidable Sergeant who everyone does their upmost to stay on the right side of. It's common knowledge you have your own ways of doing things…"

"… I did things right after Sally asked me…" Callum trailed off under Emma's penetrating glare.

"She what?" Emma asked.

"She said that you wouldn't ever forgive me if I bodged the case because I did things my own way." Callum said quietly, wincing as he waited for Emma's reply.

"Well you know what, she's bloody right." Emma said, scowling. "And for the record you shouldn't even have to be asked to do everything by the book." Emma rummaged in her bag and pulled out a brick of a book that had been left untouched all weekend.

"What were u saying before?" Callum asked. Emma stayed silent, not looking up from the small text on the page. He sighed, pulling the book from Emma's hands and dropping it on his lap before placing his hands on her shoulders and forcing her to face him. "Ignoring me isn't going to work Em." He said firmly. Emma's eyes dropped to her book, and still she managed to say nothing. "Real mature Emma! I thought we were beyond this." He accused, rolling his eyes.

Silence.

"Emma! Come on – talk to me babe." Callum insisted, his shoulders dropping.

"I'm not your 'babe'." Emma retorted coolly, her words visibly stinging Callum. It hurt her to say it, and she was sure that she felt just as Callum looked, but she prayed to God that she didn't look quite so lost.

"You don't mean that… do you?" Callum asked. Emma snatched her book back, flicking through the pages before she got back to the beginning. She engrossed herself in the text, getting losing herself with the characters and their sheltered life. How she envied the women she read about.

"We wouldn't work back home Callum, and I think you know that." Emma said shortly, his expression a sign that she had to go on. "Not only are you a different person, but so am I."

"What does it matter Em, we've worked here, so why can't we give it a go?"

"Because life's so much more uncomplicated away from rules and regulations, people expect different things from us. We can be as careless and carefree as we want and nothing – or no one gets hurt. Back home, we wouldn't get to see much of each other, we'd have to work professionally together and accept the MET's scrutiny." Emma paused and bit down hard on her lip, waiting for the clattering of the drinks trolley to go by before continuing. "I for one Callum don't wanna hide a relationship, always be looking over my shoulder, wondering if we got caught; would we be dismissed, demoted? It's not even worth thinking about."

* * *

**_I totally forgot about this! I convinced myself that I'd already UD'd it when ... I hadn't! Chapter thirteen hasnt even gone up properly so I'm really sorry about that, but I think I've mended that - if not please can someone PM me so I can have another go! _**

**_Hope you like it... and hope no one is going to kill me too much - How about the promise of a sequal :D _**

**_Does that make it better? Lol!_**

**_In case you haven't realised, this is the last chapter... but yeah the sequal is called... uhh is called Picking up the Pieces (and i didn't have to go and check that lol!) It should be up... soon ish. I've written four chapters already so... yeah fingers crossed!_**

**_Thanks_**

**_Emily x_**


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